Kingswood BUZZard
The official Newsletter of the Kingswood Golf Estate HOA
August 2024 Edition #15
From the CEO
‘Victory belongs to the most persevering’
That is the quote written on either side of the main stadium, Philippe Chatrier, at Roland-Garros tennis precinct in Paris, France. It is also a very relevant motto for most things in life. I would like to add ‘consistency’ to this motto, since nobody has ever achieved any real success without being consistent in doing the right things over and over.
At Kingswood our vision is to be: THE PREFERRED SECURE, FAMILY-FRIENDLY RESIDENTIAL GOLF ESTATE ON THE GARDEN ROUTE.
The HOA have, as our main objective, to achieve that vision for the homeowners of Kingswood. This can only be done by setting challenging goals aimed at the maintenance and improvement of the estate as a whole. Your estate staff, and trustees, work tirelessly towards achieving excellence through consistent hard work and improvement.
We saw another AGM come and go, with all the relevant formalities observed. We appointed our 2024/25 board of trustees consisting of Jonathan Witts-Hewinson, Tony Jacobsen and Fielies Nieuwoudt, and we welcome our newest member, Pietman van Heerden, to the fold – more about Pietman later in this edition. We reappointed Moore as our auditors and they also oversaw the quorum and voting formalities. As the estate grows in size, the number of homeowners attending in person and by proxy increases every year, and 2024 saw the highest attendance of all time, having 249 persons represented at the AGM.
Well done, Kingswood! The cold weather has not dampened the generous nature of our homeowners, and we thank everybody who made a contribution to the Mandela Day drive in support of the ODIN (Oudtshoorn Dogs In Need) food and blanket drive. We were fortunate enough to be able to deliver a whole bakkie-load full of goodies to the management staff at ODIN. Please first consider adopting a pet from this most deserving institution before buying one from a breeder.
Work relating to the 2024 security upgrades is well under way now, and we expect to reach completion by the end of September.
More surveilance cameras are being installed at strategic positions around the perimeter of the estate. These cameras are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to ensure that any suspect activity in close proximity to our fences is dealt with concisely and effectively. Our onsite control room also monitors all activity at our gates, as well as electric fence zone alarms, to ensure the highest level of security at Kingswood, forming part of the realisation of our vision. Work at the new community centre/clubhouse facility is well under way and the primary contractor, Semper Prima, is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the building and related infrastructure are completed on time.
The board subcommittee responsible for this project (Jonathan, Tony and myself) is working tirelessly to ensure that the needs and interests of the homeowners are carefully observed along every step of the way, one carefully considered decision at a time. Our golf course is starting to show the impact of the winter onslaught but, all things considered, is still in an impeccable condition. Thank you to our dedicated greenkeeping staff for their hard work from very early in the morning during the icy cold winter days; they appreciate nothing more than a quick acknowledgement and praise from homeowners. Our winter projects are progressing well and we will complete all planned activities well before the spring.
I hope you enjoy this edition of The BUZZard.
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Please note, The newsletter is designed like a magazine, the articles and images flow over two or more pages.
Kingswood greetings,
Willem Jacobs
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Kingswood BUZZard News
Meet the new trustee
4 min readThe latest arrival among Kingswood’s trustees (Jonathan Witts-Hewinson, Tony Jacobsen and Fielies Nieuwoudt) is former farmer Pietman van Heerden, who took the proverbial baton from outgoing trustee Edmund Franklin after the KGE Annual General Meeting on 24 June.
When it comes to security, we’re on budget and ahead of schedule
3 min readThe BUZZard chatted to Kingswood trustee and chair of the Security Committee, Fielies Nieuwoudt, who was happy to report on the timeous progress of all operations set to be completed during the third quarter of 2024.
Innovation to Protect Rivers and Users from Upstream Pollution
4 min readThe first category is plastic pollution. All modern products come with packaging, and all of this creates masses of landfills. Most packaging is plastic, and in South Africa, a lot of this ends up in rivers. We have some pioneering individuals who have been blazing the trail with innovative solutions.
The Swiss cheese model of risk management
4 min readWhatever your field, whether you are project managing a multibillion-rand development, overseeing the security on a small estate, getting the kids to school on time, or running a large hospital, you need to manage risk, minimise accidents, and ensure the smooth flow of a number of related tasks.
Young angler’s remarkable catch: a tale of triumph and release
2 min readIt was a normal, sunny day in Kingswood, the kind that invites adventure and the thrill of discovery. Young Marcel and his father, Heinrich, decided to spend their afternoon fishing at the dam just below their house, near the sixth tee box.
