OPINION - Yay! It's the first week of December, and where I come from, you better brace yourself against the relentless bleating of Christmas carols. 

It's a somewhat peculiar time of year when shops, streets and even conversations become just a little softer and more tolerant (except on the roads, of course).

For many people, these songs playing on repeat are probably an irritation; but for me, they bring a kind of contagious enthusiasm and optimism that's only possible in December.

And while Wham!'s Last Christmas will probably always remain popular, my absolute favourite is still Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas (Is You).

After all, the song goes: "Make my wish come true".

Breathe

And yes, my Christmas wish list is pretty long - especially now that my boys are bigger - but whose isn't? And as Mariah sings, sometimes there's only one thing that really matters.

For me, that wish is simple: that the Knysna lagoon may breathe again.

Knysna's hundreds of problems are well documented up to national level, and have been covered by Carte Blanche several times this year.

But the one issue that simply refuses to be resolved is the health of the lagoon, the very lifeline of our beautiful coastal town. We're talking unprecedented high E. coli levels, sewage and pollution threatening sensitive ecosystems.

That's why it was good news when Knysna Municipality announced last week that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth R2 million with the Knysna Infrastructure Group (a non-profit private community group) for much-needed financial support to directly address the lagoon's problems, among other things.

A spark of hope

Two years ago, the same optimism was in the air when Dion George, then the DA's constituency head in Knysna, was sworn in as Western Cape Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Because after all: "Charity begins at home."

But many distraught letters from locals about the state of the lagoon bore little fruit.

In a surprising twist last week, the DA's leader and National Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, removed George from his position, allegedly for underperformance. He was apparently first demoted to Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition - a position he reportedly refused outright.

As federal chairperson of the DA's finances, George then publicly reprimanded Steenhuisen for alleged misuse of the party's credit card for personal purchases, including takeaways and household goods. His decision to block Steenhuisen's card only deepened the intrigue.

Steenhuisen, in turn, claims George is simply "bitter" about being removed.

Be that as it may, while this political soap opera plays out, the lagoon still stares the same problem in the face year after year, while its water is becoming even dirtier than the politics raging around it.

Money is not the problem; just work together

Knysna has long been known as the playground and home of the super-rich. If everyone could just set aside their differences for a moment - especially the political kind - and work together as a collective to restore the lagoon to its former glory, our descendants might one day still get to see what we have seen: seahorses drifting effortlessly in crystal-clear waters.

So yes, this Christmas I have just one little wish: Let the lagoon sparkle like it used to.

Make my wish come true. Please.

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