Window dressing will not win Kimberlites’ hearts

By 9am on Saturday morning, when athletes – puffing and pouring with perspiration – passed my home, temperatures were in the mid-to-high 20s already.

I wondered what would possess human beings to expose themselves to this type of trauma? Then the words of the wise man from Proverbs 28:1 came to mind. “The wicked run when no one is chasing them”.

The good news is that the first Diamonds and Dorings Kimberley Big Hole Marathon seems to have been a resounding success. And, ignoring my jealous comment about them being wicked, I admit that I admire the tenacity it took for those athletes to run such distances, whether it be 5km, the full 42.2km or any distance in between.

Let’s not ignore the fact that before they set off at 5.30am, they had spent months preparing for the gruelling exertion. To those who finished, congratulations, and to those who didn’t, I sincerely tip my cap to you for preparing and pitching up. Well done!

But besides the brave athletes, it has been pleasant to see a tidier city over the past few weeks. And though Kimberley is a long way from having its original sparkle restored, it has been nice to drive over patched potholes.

Early on Sunday morning, I drove for a short distance along the route, and was delighted that there was no litter strewn along the road. Organisers had ensured that they picked up after the event. THAT was highly impressive! It appears that when councillors called for a thorough clean-up of the city, their call was heeded 

The report on our website stated that “ANC councillors recommended that all potholes and illegal dumping sites be addressed before athletes arrive on November 22”.

The municipality came close, because a LOT of work was put in. However, as I drove past athletes running by the now infamous dumpsite on the corner of Regiment Way and Cricket Street, I noticed that all the litter had been meticulously raked into one neat, stinky pile. Errr, unless I missed the memo, and that corner has been rezoned as a legal dumpsite, that’s not OK.

We criticise because we care

This illegal dumping site is also not OK for those who complain a lot; the people who experienced Kimberley in its heyday, from the 1950s to the early ’90s. Our hearts ache every day when we see what’s become of it. The state of the city always comes up, because the problem is not going away.

So though we acknowledge and appreciate the spruce-up of the city before the prestigious event, maybe it’s high time – as Kimberlites have been nagging for years – that a more permanent rejuvenation occurs.

For the record, there’s a world of difference between a “Kimberley resident” and a “Kimberlite”.

A resident is simply someone who lives here – maybe they arrived from elsewhere, maybe they grew up in Kimberley, but they never truly embraced it. Their affections are not with the city.

A Kimberlite, however, carries Kimberley in their heart wherever they live, even if it's on the other side of the world. They’ve seen the city’s former beauty, they know what’s been lost, and their hearts yearn for its restoration.

Anyway, the athletes and supporters who visited Kimberley are back home smelling like ointment and liniment, and nursing their sunburn, and what are they saying?

Maybe, “Hmmm, Kimberley (or South Africa) is not in a bad shape at all, they seem to have things under control.”

But if we compare that impression with what those who remain behind have to deal with on a daily basis … and see how they stack up, as we are left wondering, what happens now after the events are over?

And then, some encouragement

But there is some good news. Early on Thursday morning I was in the city's CBD, and I may have had an insight into the answer to that question. 

All around the city, cleaning crews had been deployed. It was still early, but already weeds were being cleared and litter picked up off the streets. As I drove around, I noticed, on the sidewalk in front of the Post Office, two workers sitting flat on their bottoms, and my eyes rolled. "Here we go again," I thought to myself.

But when I passed them, they were sitting down, meticulously removing weeds from between paving stones by hand. I rebuked myself for being so "judgy".

I returned home a little brighter, a bit more positive, and more hopeful than I had been in months. I even dared to believe, to hope, that somehow, in a few years, the Diamond City may sparkle again.