'The whites go out on their boats and suip, so why can't we?'

KNYSNA NEWS & VIDEO - When Ward 9 councillor, Mark Willemse, led the Hornlee public participation meeting on the controversial, proposed public drinking, this week, it was a meeting characterised by allegations of racism. He had repeatedly warned residents not to play the race card.

About 40 people, including politicians and representatives of the community, attended the meeting in the Hornlee Community Hall, where the scene was set for a race attack against Leisure Island residents on Thursday, November 23.

Businessman Chris Gould took the floor, suggesting that the Hornlee residents be given an opportunity to raise their concerns about the proposed changes to the by-law on drinking in public.

Hornlee community leader Neville Korkee immediately added fuel for the debate when he raised his concern about language issues at the meeting, shouting from the back for the meeting to be conducted in Afrikaans. Korkee was the first to verbally attack the Leisure Isle residents, by asking: "Are we on the road back to apartheid? If you (Leisure Island residents) are not happy with us (Hornlee residents), then move from your houses while we are there and come back when we have left."

Korkee then played the race card: "The whites go out on their boats and 'suip' ('drink') where nobody can see them and then come back later."

Another member of the public, Tina Nel, added: "We (Hornlee) had a swimming pool and it was taken away from us." Nel said she never goes to the ocean, "but this time of the year we go there to enjoy time with our friends and families. I agree that people must be allowed to enjoy their drinks (alcohol) on the beach."

An unknown member of the public supported Nel's opinion by saying that brown people will become "very angry" if the public participation process and objections against the proposal continue.

Marius Leen, who introduced himself to the Knysna-Plett herald as a member of the ANC Youth League and wanted to be referred to in that capacity, told the meeting: "I have a big problem with the white people that think Knysna belongs to them.

The white associates sit behind this issue. Leisure Isle doesn't belong to the white people." Another member of the public added: "The rich kids think they are in charge of this town."

Ralph Stander stood up and added a spark to the tension, saying: "The people of Hornlee don't drink more than residents of Leisure Isle. There is more alcohol in houses at Leisure Island and The Heads than in Hornlee. It's good that we can vote for your party, but it's not good that I can go there and enjoy myself?" He accused Leisure Island residents "of trying all the tricks in the book to keep the blacks off Leisure Island".

At the end of the meeting, the chairperson of the Leisure Island Residents Association (LIRA), Keith Hollis told the people: "If you open Pandora's Box on drinking, it will never close and society will be more and more destroyed."

He continued, "The debate today was about race. You have raised it continuously. The issue is not about alcohol - it's about using alcohol in excess. It's about behaviour that flows out of that excess of alcohol."

Hollis told them that Leisure Island has lots of bed and breakfast establishments and that tourism contributes about 60% to Knysna's economy. He warned that if tourism is affected, an important source of income will be destroyed."

Cope councillor Ricky van Aswegen tells the politicians that the community is frustrated because the law is not applied consistently. Photos: Christo Vermaak.

Cope councillor, Ricky van Aswegen, said: "The frustration of the community is that the law is not applied consistently. You must accept that people are going to drink, but the last thing Hornlee's residents want to see is drunken people moving among children. We were not raised like that."

Thursday's meeting was the seventh of ten public participation meetings to guide the Knysna Council in considering the designation of specific areas for alcohol consumption.

* A public participation meeting about the same matter, due to take place at Chris Nissen School on Monday, November 23, was postponed. Knysna Municipal Manager, Grant Easton explained: "The Ward 4 meeting which was scheduled to take place at Chris Nissen Primary School on Monday, November 23 was postponed because the venue was not available.

The school informed the municipality yesterday afternoon that they had double booked the venue. The purpose of the meetings is to engage with communities in order to get different views and perspectives regarding possible designated public areas prior to Council making a final decision on the matter.

There was nothing illegal about the postponement of the meeting, and the public will be informed accordingly of a new date to convene the meeting."