My Town: Part 1 ~ because I had to spend a day running around doing stuff!

I live in a medium sized town, Newcastle, in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. It is about 4 hours inland from the well known coastal city of  Durban. I have lived here most of my life, with extended periods away at times. When I finished my university degree in 1992, I moved back to be with my fiance, now husband. A little more than a year later we started our business.

As many of you who have followed this blog know, we are in the process of moving premises. Today I counted all our moves over the last 24 years and they total 7, including the current premises we are setting up. By we I mean my husband! Admin stuff has always been my area, which I loathe, but at least I haven't had to set up the shop. As a second hand dealer I need to be licensed by the South African Police. My licence is up for renewal at the end of the year and it is a huge inconvenience. All kinds of documentation must be submitted, my fingerprints must be taken, and many visits to the office (up 2 flights of stairs) of the Officer in charge of this stuff! I was hoping I could renew my licence with the move, but there is no place on the form that makes provision for new premises, so I had to apply for a change of premises first. There was something missing in the documentation twice, and today I made my third trip up those two flights of dreary stairs, only to find the office didn't deal with applications on Fridays! Thankfully the Officer assisted me, which he should, as I have been the secretary of the Second Hand Dealers Forum for over 10 years. They won't allow me to resign!

Finances are sketchy (as usual), especially as I haven't had any daily income from the shop this week. As it was month end I had to budget carefully for my debit orders. I only have internet banking on one account as the fees for 2 accounts would be too high. South Africa is notorious for excessive banking charges. I had to stop by the ATM to check  if the second account was not in a deficit, resulting in a debit order being rejected, incurring even further charges. (R170/$13 per debit order rejected!). As usual I was running late!

         

                      

First stop - the ATM at the left in these pictures. The account was fine, so onward to the police station.

            

To reach the required office, I had to use the back entrance of the Police Station.

            

                  

Dreary stairs, dreary corridors and dreary offices, but at least I could hand my documentation in!

Directly opposite the back of the Police Station is the Primary School I attended as a young girl.

Another issue I have been struggling with is obtaining the electricity connection for the new premises. I have visited the Municipal offices twice, and the Estate Agents of the new landlord have twice failed to supply the required documentation. Our last move was over 5 years ago and regulations have changed since then. Our Municipal Offices are a brand new towering glass monstrosity. We did not need such opulent Municipal buildings, considering our town is quite poor, and our infrastructure needs urgent attention. However we received them, and many benefited from the deal, I'm sure. Our Mayor was not re-elected, and our town's Municipality has being skirting bankruptcy for months. Of course we are being called on to foot the bill in increased electricity tariffs.

            

            

              

                  

              

I spent about an hour year. It took ages to complete all the forms and I had to pay a R3000 ($233) deposit! I took a few photos of the surrounding area from above in the parking area. The photographs have a hazy quality as since we have entered the winter dry period in South Africa, there are veld (field) fires all over town and surrounds every day.

Since I was in the area I decided to quickly stop over the road and pay the Doctor's office a small sum owed for a sugar test. (R24/$1.80)

            

From the Doctor's parking lot you can see the ostentatious Municipal Buildings.

           

And the Doctor's offices which I try not to visit too often! As a family we are pretty good. I would say, as a family of 5, we don't go to the doctor more than 5 times a year altogether, or even less.

This was simply the beginning of a long day of running around, but I have decided to separate the day into 3 parts, or I might end up writing a book here!!!

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