22 April 2021

This is my first letter as Chairman of the new committee that was elected at the AGM. Myni Kapp has been elected Vice-Chairman. As per the constitution, this is the last term of office I can serve and it is envisaged that Myni will take over from me next year. We have also co-opted Roscoe Segers, a new member onto the committee. He is tasked with getting the Club onto all the various social media platforms, something that should have been done a long time ago. Noel has also formed a very enthusiastic Marketing Sub-committee with a number of recently-joined members. This is very promising and I’m sure they are going to be very successful in marketing our brand. We had a very good and efficient AGM with a lot of newer members asking questions and making some interesting suggestions, all in all proceedings were over within an hour.

Myni was elected to the Events portfolio and he has plans to make Open Days more interesting and thus get all our members to start attending on a regular basis. The last Open Day was not well attended although we had organised a speaker. Yes, I know it did at first glance look to be a bit boring, but Petrus Motsoko of Engen gave a very polished and enlightened talk on various lubricants that are required to keep our 4x4s running smoothly and I was surprised to see most of the questions coming from our lady members. I feel a reason for the poor turnout was probably because the AGM had been held the previous weekend. We will have to look at either having them further apart or combining them, although only full paid-up members are allowed to attend.

Although Open Day attendance was disappointing, the camp over was not! The numbers were increased by a number of the 4x4 Action Club, who held their AGM in the Lapa joining us, so once again a number of us had a good time around the camp fire. NOTE OPEN DAY CAMP OVER IS THIS COMING WEEKEND and we have a full day’s activity planned, so if you have not yet attended one, please do so before the onset of the colder weather.

The Club has also been very active on the Outings front during March. I led a group of six vehicles on a 12-day trip along the Orange River, starting at Pella pump station and ending at Alexander Bay. The Namakwa Eco Trail offers a wonderful and very remote off-road driving and wild camping experience. The Richtersveld is very stark and barren, yet it is a beautiful mountainous region that changes colour depending on the position of the sun. The weather was very hot but one is able to cool off in the river with a drink which we did most late afternoons. For many, when I asked, their favourite part of the trip was the two nights camping at De Hoop. Our youngest member on the trip Filipa, who is just 17, and who has only very recently obtained her learner’s licence, has acquired more off-road driving skills than on-road. The Club may soon have its first female driver trainer! Dave Mac led a weekend trip in late March to Tshikwalo Game Reserve just north of Pretoria. Although I have not spoken to anyone who was on that trip, I’m sure it was another one of Dave’s successes and we eagerly wait for the trip report.

As reported at the AGM, the Club membership currently stands at around 155. Most members have paid, but to those who have not, please can you do so, or make arrangements with Karl to pay your membership fees in instalments.

Although this is a bit late, I urge you to please drive carefully over this Easter Weekend and over the school holidays. Above all don’t drink and drive! This was brought home to us on our recent trip while driving between Kathu and Kuruman on our way to Red Sands last Sunday evening. Linda and I received a warning over our radio from Roy warning us of a drunk woman in a small red car driving very erratically.  Needless to say, as a result of the warning, the whole convoy moved over and allowed her to pass weaving at speed. I slowed the whole convoy down just in time as she collided with a bakkie causing it to roll several times into the veld. I stopped to assess the situation. Luckily the driver of the bakkie was not too seriously injured, and was being berated by this drunk woman until I managed to chase her back to her own damaged car. Dorota administered first aid to the poor driver of the bakkie which I’m sure was a total write-off. I then handed the accident scene over to another motorist and the convoy moved off. Only a few kilometers further on there was another accident. It was a very shook-up party that finally made it to Red Sands for a farewell dinner.

So, until we see you next weekend, stay safe and Covid free!

Regards,

Peter Hutchison
 
Chairman
Four Wheel Drive Club SA
Email: chairman@fwdcsa.co.za
Cell: 082 825 1893