From my chair:
47° 23’ N, 9° 45’ E
Dear all
You’re familiar with the long-standing South Cape Section’s approach to publicising meets. We’ve had a couple of requests to supplement the existing email system with a WhatsApp group. Now I know perfectly well that such groups can be a serious irritation, so please don’t feel any pressure from my side to join it. Each member will receive an invitation to join, and it is up to you whether you wish to. The meet sheet containing the programme will still be emailed to you each month, as per usual. The purpose of the group will be purely to enable meet leaders to publicise additional excursions simply and quickly, and to enable potential meet attendees to be advised of these and to make the appropriate arrangements with the leader. It won’t be used for those meets already publicised on the meet sheet.
I will be on the group, and I can assure you I am not seeking any additional irritations in my own life. The group will be ‘broadcast only’; in other words, members will not be able to post their personal observations on the political situation or the weather. (If anyone would like to start a group for such purposes, I promise not to stop you, but it won’t be this one). It will work as follows: a meet leader wishing to put on a meet will WhatsApp his/her plans to our Meets Convenor; she will post these plans on the WhatsApp group, including the meet leader’s contact details; members who are on this WhatsApp group then have the opportunity to contact the meet leader directly as per usual.
I reported on the April Pietersrivier meet separately, but thought it was rather nice that our host Katot has been recently honoured by WESSA:
https://www.wessa.org.za/wessa-annual-awards-2025-honour-south-africas-environmental-champions/?fbclid=IwdGRzaAQ8c_NjbGNrBDxzv2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHsi2IYb4U9PYkOQcoS45kyambNeGrekL5XOu2fb1b5xDZWVDfMon6qvXb4Rd_aem_Y59dJAlV-kPAqZR1FvgM_w
You can find the latest UIAA newsletter here:
https://mailchi.mp/theuiaa/uiaa-newsletter-may2026?e=b6388d25b0.
‘til another time
Gary Cundill
chair@scp.mcsa.org.za