Thank you, DA constituency head for the Western Cape, Jaco Londt.

For what? For setting an example that every politician should follow, by always being available for comment, for always being willing to explain how it is, for always going out of your way to assist journalists – which in turn ensures the accuracy of stories.

Writing political stories often feels like removing landmines and actually never knowing when you will stand on one. A quagmire in many cases.

The hot potato this week is the move in a council meeting last week, 25 January, for councillors to give themselves generous increases, but also increase their cellphone stipends from R1 900 to R3 500.

The most amazing part of this is not so much whether post-fire Knysna can afford these increases, which is cause for great concern, but that the cellphone allowances are simply added to salaries with no accountability required. In other words, the cellphone money can be spent on anything.

Even members of parliament do not have this liberty.

So these are the facts, but in order to properly represent the situation, it is imperative to include the opinion of opposition parties.

Ricky van Aswegen from Cope always gives an opinion, which is very important.

The ANC is also always offered the chance to respond to political stories. In this instance, no comment was given by PR ANC councillor Titi Gombo despite the fact that she was asked.

We have a new ratepayers' association who are willing to weigh in and give their opinion.

Moral of the story here is that I go out of my way to check the facts, to include comment from all relevant parties and to create a final report that is comprehensive, accurate and without bias!

If the relevant councillors (in this case) only help me by simply commenting or even saying they decline to do so, it makes my job easier. If they choose to be silent, then there is nothing I can do.

And yes, so I wait with bated breath for the bored, ugly and rude comments that will surely accompany this story on Facebook irrespective of what I have written – actually I have become accustomed to attacks so I don't care anymore as long as I know I have done my best.

Two comments really take the cake recently.

After I wrote a factual report about two people caught cultivating dagga, Rob van Vee wrote on Facebook: "Although the Garden Route has experienced rainy weather over the past few days, the Knysna municipality said today this will not have a significant impact on the current water situation for the town… In fact, dagga smokers are most likely to blame for the drought and as such the Knysna police are stepping up their dagga arrests!" (The headline the editor really wants to write.)

Then there was the nasty and uninformed Facebook comment from Marylou on a fire story: “KPH is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the authorities!”