Our letters page serves to reflect the concerns and interests of our readership. Most letters arrive by email, but we get everything from snail-mail, handwritten letters to quick SMSes sent from cellphones.
We take the letters seriously because they show what the people who livein Makana Municipality are really concerned about.
Our letters page serves to reflect the concerns and interests of our readership. Most letters arrive by email, but we get everything from snail-mail, handwritten letters to quick SMSes sent from cellphones.
We take the letters seriously because they show what the people who livein Makana Municipality are really concerned about.
We are under no illusion that the letters page is a scientific survey accurately reflecting the thought processes of residents, but it does give one a notion of what is important to the people of Grahamstown. In order to write a letter to a newspaper you need to be motivated.
People often say they are angry about some perceived injustice and say that “you (as in Grocott’s Mail) ought to do something about it.”
Our standard response is, well, if you feel so strongly about it, then write a letter to the editor.” Some people do, but most do not either because they don’t feel that strongly about the affront, or because they are not able to sustain their anger long enough to put pen to paper.
Nevertheless, we do get a significant number of letters from people who are really passionate about a particular issue.
For example, we have had more than a few letters about traffic lights on Church Square, the proposed wind farm and about water quality problems.
It is however revealing that the type of letter we get most often is not angry at all – in fact the tone is one of gratitude.
We regularly get many letters of thanks; individuals thanking others for personal kindness, or organisations thanking the people of Grahamstown for their generosity.
Almost every week we receive at least one letter from a charity organisation thanking residents for their contributions at a street collection or for the attendance at a fête, a play or any one of a host of different fundraisers.
This shows that the one unifying characteristic of Grahamstonians is that of ubuntu. Yes, we have our fights and we have an indecent level of crime, but fundamentally the people of Grahamstown are ready to give to help each other.
In this context, we saw that yesterday, many people wore yellow as a sign of support for Hospice and tomorrow residents will happily be filling the money boxes of the Red Cross street collection.
