Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Halala, Ntsika!
  • What’s on – 26 January – 2 February
  • 2023 is off like a rocket at Holy Cross
  • An all-too-restrained explication of our immanent apocalypse
  • 135 pairs of shoes for Khutliso Daniels learners
  • Makhanda’s educational stars are aligning
  • Makana-Rini United (MARU) Club struggles on
  • Only three educators left at Riebeeck East Combined School
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Cue
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»Uncategorized»Civil service is swings and roundabouts
Uncategorized

Civil service is swings and roundabouts

_Gr0cCc0Tts_By _Gr0cCc0Tts_January 13, 20091 Comment3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

 Where praise is due, it should be given. On entering the Post Office recently I was immediately shown which line was the correct one for my needs by a courteous gentleman, and, once I was at the counter, service was efficient and was prompt. The same experience awaited me at the Police Station when I urgently needed a Commissioner of Oaths to certify a document. 

 Where praise is due, it should be given. On entering the Post Office recently I was immediately shown which line was the correct one for my needs by a courteous gentleman, and, once I was at the counter, service was efficient and was prompt. The same experience awaited me at the Police Station when I urgently needed a Commissioner of Oaths to certify a document. 
To remove the pain of paying accounts, go to Thembeka or Leigh-Ann at Telkom. Not only is the service superb, but a free smile and, usually, a joke is thrown in. 

When I needed to query an electricity account, The Lady at Eskom solved the problem in minutes, while at the Department of Labour one of the women behind the desk gave me a special telephone number to contact if I did not receive the quick response that had been promised.  
Try booking a ticket on a train and a delightful young lady, with a mischievous sense of humour, will issue you with tickets and information instantly. 

After complaining to Superintendent Zeelie about the rubbish that had accumulated outside of the police barracks in Somerset Street, it took only a day or so before the mess was cleared away. No doubt a few stern words were issued to the policemen who had allowed the litter to pile up. 
These are the swings. 

Unfortunately, there are roundabouts too and these also need to be mentioned. My wife and I were astonished when a policeman in a marked vehicle parked right at the "spring” to collect water on the Port Alfred Road. Having carried our containers from well beyond the red line, we remonstrated with him for breaking the law. He shrugged off our concern and left his vehicle illegally parked. 

On another occasion, I was almost run over by a police vehicle while I was using the zebra crossing outside of Clicks. As far as I could tell, the officer was not chasing hurriedly after a criminal. I was, of course, the only person using the zebra crossing as everybody else was wandering down the street looking most offended when cars legitimately drove down the road! 
But the most irritating roundabout of the lot is the filth in the streets. We must compare our town to the worst in the world for allowing citizens to litter the way they do. Added to this, the vagrants who tear open the rubbish bags put out for collection on the pavements make it worse. Is there not a by-law to prohibit this?

Let us try, together, to increase the swings and eliminate the roundabouts.

 

Previous ArticleNedbank’s nasty noise pollution
Next Article Rhodes launches Confucius Institute
_Gr0cCc0Tts_

Comments are closed.

Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Humans of Makhanda

Humans of Makhanda

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2023 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.