A flamboyance of flamingos on Kamfers Dam outside Kimberley. The Diggers Memorial in Oppenheimer Garden in the Diamond City, with five life-sized bronze figures holding a diamond sieve through which water from the fountain cascades.
Photos of these two attractions in its former state, on a recent media briefing report from the Sol Plaatje Municipality, was the cherry on the cake of a string of absurd observations over the past few days.
The irony of the use of these (old) photos by the municipality is that both attractions turned into a sight for sore eyes under its governance.
For several years, flamingos no longer find Kamfers Dam an ideal habitat due to the mismanagement of effluent water into the dam.
The paradise for thousands of migrating flamingos, and a lovely site to visit, is now a growing foul-smelling body of polluted water.
Regarding the Diggers Memorial: In 2020 its metal sieve was stolen; in 2022 one of the bronze figures was removed and parts of it cut off – most possibly to sell as scrap metal.
Apart from this, the basin of the fountain was mostly filled with rubbish. Seemingly, nothing was done to protect it and other memorials in the city from the destructive effect of vandalism. The integration of the Oppenheimer Garden into the campus of the Sol Plaatje University (SPU) gives hope, but Steve Lunderstedt, historian and writer, once wrote: “What has been destroyed cannot be undone.”
Also, the cause of the abrupt postponement of the budget speech in Parliament; France’s justice minister’s announcement that inmates may no longer get facial massages; and an article by an early childhood education specialist stating that an increasing number of children are unable to hold a pencil, sit up straight, make friends, or have face-to-face social interaction due to the overuse of screen time are some of the other recent observations causing an uneasy feeling.
It is then that the article on why some people believe the earth is flat and global warming a myth, makes perfect sense. Believing in a far less complex theory and shrugging off reality, makes the world a happier and manageable place in your mind.
