More than a dozen commemorative plaques, embedded in memory of loved ones on a row of benches opposite Miller’s surf break in Gqeberha, have been stolen.
The situation was discovered by Summerstrand resident and well-known landscape gardener Bruce Basson whose three stainless steel plaques, installed in memory of his beloved wife and two dogs, are among those that were stolen.
The plaques have survived years of decay and pillaging in the area, until now.
In addition to the latest theft, none of the lamps along the nearby cycle path near the benches are working because the wiring has been extracted by thieves; the adjacent walkway has collapsed in places, leaving two large dongas; the aquatic safety officer notice board has been vandalised; and vagrants are sleeping inside the cement electrical boxes on the paved area near Shark Rock Pier.
Basson said he installed his bench, one of the first in a line of 11 benches, about 15 years ago.
“My wife, Leslé, and I had a wire-haired terrier called Amy, who loved trying to catch the fishes in the rock pools in front here. So when Amy died, I erected a bench here above the pools and installed the first plaque, in her memory.
“I put a pot of spekboom either side of the bench and after that we used to bring down our dog Chloe, a mixed breed we got from Animal Welfare.
“Even after Leslé was confined to a wheelchair, I used to push her down to the beach front with Chloe, walk a bit and then come and sit here.
“Then Chloe died at the beginning of last year, and I put up a plaque to her too.”
After six years of illness, in March last year, Leslé died as well and Bruce installed a plaque in her memory
He said he could hardly believe it when he came down on Tuesday to find all the plaques stripped.
“It wasn’t just mine that were gone, but all of them, off every one of these benches.
“They’ve been left alone for so many years and suddenly this happens.
“It makes me very angry and sad.
“Many of the old folk who were commemorated on the other benches were walking here on the beach front not so long ago, and I used to stop and talk to them.
“They were all human beings who were greatly loved so this is really disrespectful.
“The most they will get for each one is probably a couple of rand.”
He said he had not seen the metro police in the area for some time.
“I feel they should patrol here regularly and frequently.
“It would also really help if the metro and the police could pressure the dealers not to accept things such as plaques, which are clearly stolen.
“And the same goes for pipes and copper wiring.”
He said it was no use replacing the plaques as they would just get stolen again.
Questions were sent to the metro on Thursday and receipt was confirmed but no response had been received by the time of going to print.
Ward 2 councillor Sean Tappan, who contributed to the installation of one of the other benches — for former Bay councillor Dean Biddulph, who succumbed to Covid-19 complications in 2021 — said the plaque theft was linked to the prevalence of vagrants in the area.
“That goes with bylaw enforcement by metro police.
“I have submitted a motion to the municipal safety and security committee which I sit on, asking how we can increase their presence, and that will be discussed at our next committee meeting.
“Without having a police or metro police presence at night time and in the early hours of the morning — that’s when this crime and vandalism takes place.
“It is related to the municipality’s lack of commitment to sort out vagrancy, to find other accommodation for these guys, and to put a proper screening process in place to profile each of them.”
He said one of the positives was that the SAPS’s dedicated anti-tourism crime unit was looking like it would be introduced on the Gqeberha beachfront by the start of the festive season holiday.
The Herald
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