’69 Benz leaves rivals in its wake in OD Inggs Run
THE 21st OD Inggs Memorial Run took place last weekend with entrants coming from East London, Port Elizabeth, Queenstown, Grahamstown and Port Alfred to take part.
The annual event, hosted by the Albany Vintage and Classic Motor Club (AVCMC), is held in memory of the late OD Inggs, an undertaker from Grahamstown who was an avid collector of vintage motor vehicles with a collection of more than 100 vehicles.
The vintage and classic cars taking part in the weekend’s run included a wide range of vehicles, among them a 1946 Morris 8, a 1963 Jaguar E-type, a number of Mercedes cars, two Austins and two Rovers dating back to the ’50s and ’60s. The run visited Bathurst, Grahamstown, Bedford, Kenton and Alexandria over the two days.
The overall winners in their 1969 Mercedes-Benz were Colin and Anne Meyer from East London who won the event last year.
In second place was Carel and Margaret Buchner from Grahamstown in their 1963 Jaguar E-type.
Carel’s car was voted by his fellow competitors as being the most desirable car in the event.
Third place went to Bruce Yendell and Peter Owen-Smith in a 1970 Rover P6.
The club trophy once again went to AVCMC who took four out of the top six places. ORT Alfred hospital security and staff seemed taken aback last Thursday when EFF members of the provincial legislature unexpectedly showed up to deliver a petition.
TotT was alerted that the group would be visiting the hospital and covered the story.
As the group approached the hospital’s gate, security guards appeared nervous. The same atmosphere prevailed when the group entered the hospital. They asked for the administration offices, and were led to them. When they entered the office they came across a woman who appeared startled.
EFF regional convener Litha Zibula noticed the discomfort and said: “Look, we know that the EFF is known as a violent party but we are not here to fight with anyone”.
He explained that they were at the hospital to hand over a petition to management.
“We are EFF MPLs serving at the provincial legislature and the EFF has declared 2018 as the year of public health care,” he said.
PHe further explained that this was a programme being conducted nationwide.
When he was about to start reading their petition, a hospital administration staff member interrupted him saying that she was procedurally forbidden from commenting on the matters unless authorised.
She said management was not aware of the EFF visit, which is why other management members were absent.
But local EFF member Xolisa Runeli provided proof of an e-mail which was sent to hospital management.
Zibula stopped reading the petition, but explained what it was about.
He said the EFF understood that public hospitals were facing challenges that were beyond management’s powers.
He said the EFF wanted to be an additional voice at a provincial level and possibly nationally if needs be.
“We are aware that public hospitals are facing issues of infrastructure, shortage of funds, and these are things that we want to address at a provincial parliament,” he said.
He asked staff members to report issues concerning machinery which is not fixed on time. “We want to work with you and be your direct voice in parliament,” he said.
“Look, this is a start but not the end, we will constantly visit hospitals,” he said.
When asked about the effectiveness of their plan, Zibula said: “We will engage management on a regular basis and have public meetings with community members to ensure that management and the community speak one language”.
The treatment received by the public from hospitals will be a determining factor in terms of what more needs to be done. The EFF MPLs asked for permission to do a walk-through to see the conditions of the wards but they were refused permission. They left an application for a walk-through for their next visit which they said will be confirmed next month.