25 August 2020 Speech by Executive Mayor, Alderman Memory Booysen at an Ordinary Council meeting of Garden Route DM

Speaker, Alderman Groenewald, once again I would like to extend my gratitude to all the frontline workers who are fighting COVID-19 that is causing havoc in our region and South Africa as a whole. We are all doing our best to fight this pandemic. Alderman Groenewald, we were also privileged as this District in our fight and awareness campaigns on COVID-19 over the past two weeks. We recently hosted the Western Cape Government (WCG) MEC for Public Works and Transport, Mr Bonginkosi Madikizela, a few days later we hosted the WCG MEC, Dr Nomafrench Mbombo. Alderman Groenewald, tomorrow we will have the privilege when we will host the WCG Premier’s Office, and on Thursday we will be host the WCG MEC for Human Settlements, Mr Tertuis Simmers. This is all part of our region and that of WCG of dealing with COVID-19. Over the next few days we will be visiting various areas, including hotspots in the Garden Route. These are some of our efforts and our response to the increase of COVID-19 figures in the Garden Route. We are still very concerned about figures in the Garden Route.

In addition, we will never forget our friends we have lost due to COVID-19.  Some are staff members; some are family members of staff members.  I want to praise God for the survivors among us. We pray that we are not going to lose any more lives.

Lastly, something, which is still a grappling matter we face on a daily basis, is Gender-Based Violence (GBV). It is with shock that I heard this morning that another lady in the Garden Route was murdered by her husband or boyfriend – I do not have the exact particulars.

I urge everyone not to keep quiet about GBV but to confront it, speak up and make your voices heard. There are still some bad…bad…rotten men out there – we need to identify these violent men, isolate them.  We need to stand by our sisters and mothers.

Lastly, I want to share my condolences to Alderlady Rosina Ruiters, our Deputy Executive Mayor who lost her sister recently.

Thank you Alderman Speaker.