by Deon van Huizen

Until recently Kormorant had a policy not to publish photographs of fatal accidents. We have done so for mainly two reasons. Firstly we tried to protect our readers, many of them children, from the gory reality of motor vehicle accidents. Also, as a community newspaper it is inevitable that many of the victims of these accidents will be residents of the area with family members that reads the paper.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of fatal accidents in the Brits and Hartbeespoort areas in recent months. This has been a direct result of various factors, mainly the continuous deterioration of the condition of the local roads, the lack of proper maintenance of these roads and an increase in unroadworthy vehicles and unlicensed drivers. The absence of visual traffic policing and the growing public perception that traffic officials are easily bribed are also contributing factors to the dangerous state of our roads.
With the change in our policy by starting to publish photographs of these grim accidents we are trying to create a bigger public awareness of the dangers of our roads. Do you agree? Please share your views on our website – www.kormorant.co.za or email info@kormorant.co.za.

Farming the Madibeng roads

The Madibeng mayor recently thought it a bright idea to buy us six brand new tractors. Well, they are ours because they where bought with our tax money. These tractors will apparently be used to clean the sides of the roads of Madibeng. Cynically it can be asked, judging by the state of the Madibeng roads, how one actually determines what is roadside and what is actual road.
Seemingly that these are actually our tractors it will probably be up to us to see that these tractors are put to good use. And, as many a good farmer around Brits will let you know, these spunky bright green machines will need loving care and maintenance. Without it, they will quickly disappear in the dense bushes of Madibeng.

Blowing our own horn – again

During the annual gala award ceremony for community newspapers in South Africa  held in Durban recently veteran Kormorant reporter Daleen van Manen was honoured as the best human interest journalist. The editorial comment of Deon van Huizen was awarded with a second prize.  Kormorant achieved this by competing against many bigger, company owned newspapers across the country. A very big thank you to all our readers, advertisers and supporters!

Related posts:

1. And here we go again …
2. Transparency? Where?
3. Spit and polish
4. On the road to nowhere
5. Where have all the standards gone?
6. Where do memorandums go?