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Author: Herman Pieters

19 July 2023 Media Release: Garden Route DM rolls out various activities before and on Mandela Day

Media Release: Garden Route DM rolls out various activities before and on Mandela Day

For Immediate Release
19 July 2023

While the world celebrates the life of an icon, the late President of the Republic of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, employees of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) also followed his example to reach out to vulnerable community members throughout the region.

GRDM kicked off their activities on 17 July by hosting a pre-Madiba Day blood donation drive at its head office in George in collaboration with the Western Cape Blood Service. The GRDM also invited the public to donate blood, which resulted in just over 50 blood donations being made.

The Oudtshoorn Municipal Health Office donated nutritious and delicious ‘food socks’ to two families in the Buffelsdrift rural area of Oudtshoorn. Food socks contain pasta, rice, flavourings, stock powders, herbs, spices, dehydrated vegetables, pulses, beans, and soy products. GRDM officials bought the socks. The donation will provide food for eight beneficiaries for a week. The two families extended their appreciation to the GRDM officials for providing them with food.

The Oudtshoorn Municipal Health Office donated ‘food socks’ to families in Buffelsdrift.

Planning and Economic Development Department officials, comprised of the EPWP, Tourism and Local Economic Development, and Human Settlements sections, took Madiba Day activities to a new level when they rolled out the following activities at Kusile Baby Care in Thembalethu. In the morning, they divided themselves into different groups. The first group painted the outside walls of the school building with a primer. After that, others begin painting the building with a beautiful topcoat colour. Other officials, who are much more handy with a hammer and nails, installed PVC ceilings. Some of the female colleagues spent time reading and feeding toddlers and newborns. While others prepared a ‘braai’ lunch for the children and their educators. The daycare center also received a coat from officials.
GRDM Planning and Economic Development officials installing PVC ceilings and feeding toddlers at Kusile Baby Care in Thembalethu.
Environmental Health Practitioners (EHP) of Garden Route District Municipality’s Wilderness region celebrated Mandela Day with 60 children from Klipdrift Primary School. The EHPs painted a classroom and supplied colourful tires to improve the playground area. EHPs also shared slices of cake and snack parcels with each child, while they also played games and shared the importance of giving back to others.
EHP officials of GRDM shared cake with children from Klipdrift Primary School and improved their playground.
Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Firefighters proved that they can do more than fight wildfires and protect communities. They made sandwiches and distributed them with cool drinks to homeless people in George’s Shoprite parking lot.

GRDM Firefighters sharing sandwiches and cool drinks with homeless people in George.

Garden Route District Municipality’s (GRDM) Office of the Municipal Manager, donated 51 pairs of shoes and funds to Mzoxolo Primary School. The shoe donations sprout from the Walk a Child to School campaign and included more staff donations too. The school is already collecting small donations from learners on Fridays to buy shoes for those who are in need. Principal Raymond Eagan thanked the GRDM for the shoe donations and funding. He said: “Our school is home to 1554 bright minds and 42 dedicated teachers.” Learners are mainly from Borchards, Thembalethu, Maraiskamp, Parkdene, and Lawaaikamp. The Principal also said the school’s name, Mzoxola, means “a beacon for peace,” and it was established in 1994 by Naledi Pandor.

Officials of the Office of the Municipal Manager GRDM donated 51 pair of shoes and funds to Mzoxolo Primary School in Lawaaikamp.

ENDS

18 July 2023 Media Release: Global North’s scorching heat waves foreshadow RSA’s 2024 climate outlook

Media Release: 18 July 2023 Media Release: Global North’s scorching heat waves foreshadow RSA’s 2024 climate outlook

For Immediate Release
18 July 2023

Heat waves in the Global North are a sign of what lies ahead for RSA in 2024, but by supporting local efforts such as the Mandela Day Tree Planting Initiative citizens can make a difference. The theme for Mandela Day 23 is “The legacy lives on through you: Climate, Food and Solidarity.”

“As the Southern Cape is receiving generous- rainfall the wet weather cycle associated with the El Nina weather pattern is about to make way for the dry El Nino pattern over Southern Africa later this year.” Says Cobus Meiring of the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF).

Europe is already experiencing sustained extreme hot weather north of forty degrees Celsius on an everyday basis with high numbers of people succumbing to the relentless heat. The Americas is no exception, with enormous cities such as Monte Video in Uruguay literally running out of resources as surface water evaporates faster than replenishment can take place and large storage dams and reservoirs and normally reliable water sources run dry.

As the northern hemisphere summer heat and accompanying warm winds dry out vegetation all it takes to ignite a wildfire disaster is a spark, and out-of-control wildfires is currently raging simultaneously in Canada, the USA and Europe with literally millions of hectares burning to ash with extensive environmental and infrastructural damage.

Already, European tourist destinations are reporting a significant drop in summertime figures with those seeking to escape the severe heat opting to visit less affected countries such as Ireland.

South Africa is currently experiencing the tail end of the wet El Nina weather phenomena and has received very high rainfall figures and even significant snowfall countrywide with some of the most damaging floods experienced in decades in the Western Cape causing millions of Rand losses in harvests, damage to agricultural land as well as hard infrastructure such as electricity, roads and bridges. High rainfall figures imply positive monetary results for agricultural production and with storage dams filled to the brim is good news for the country as a whole, knowing full well that conditions are about to change and that if predictions hold true, then RSA will soon enough experience drier years as of 2024.

A warming planet resulting in a fast-changing climate and changes in rainfall patterns and their intensity is now beyond human control, and adaptation, planning, new technology and risk mitigation hold the key to surviving the “new normal.”

South Africa is seen by some as notoriously self-destructive as far as resource management is concerned, and serious damage to sparse water sources due to a complete lack of capacity, management skills, political indifference and incompetence is present at all levels of government.

Non- management of sewage effluent, crumbling and leaking fresh water infrastructure and non- constant electricity supply and a risky grid seemingly on the very edge of collapse make for the perfect storm, hampering economic growth and stoking the fires of social stress, deprivation and disease.

The question begs as to the way forward knowing full well that the set targets for the planet to avoid much worse changes to the world climate than those correlating with the currently predicted curve, rising sea levels, drought and climate-related disasters causing untold harm to humanity and ecosystems collapse are seemingly not achievable.

Western countries with capable economies are very well aware of what is lying ahead for humanity if they do not act meaningfully, hence their willingness to avail vast amounts of money towards green energy and efforts to mitigate the effects of a changing climate, but politics globally remains firmly in the way of a universal approach and implementation of interventions. The unfortunate invasion of Ukraine by Russia continues to avert attention and resources away from addressing climate change issues, and the world needs solidarity and peace in going forward towards a sustainable future.

The basic act of planting a tree in the Garden Route in celebration of Mandela Day is a true individual action towards addressing climate change.

The Garden Route Environmental Forum is a public platform for climate change and environmental management think tank.

Feature image: Tree-planting is the proposed action for citizens to take on Mandela Day. Image: Shutterstock

AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING

Die Tuinroete-omgewingsforum (GREF) voorspel ‘n verskuiwing van nat El Niña- na droë El Niño-weerpatrone in Suider-Afrika, wat kommer wek oor RSA se klimaatvooruitsigte in 2024. Europa en die Amerikas staar reeds uiterste hitte, watertekorte en verwoestende veldbrande in die gesig. In reaksie hierop kan die ondersteuning van plaaslike inisiatiewe soos die Mandeladag-boomplanting ‘n verskil maak. Ten spyte van hulpbronwanbestuur in RSA, is aanpassing by ‘n veranderende klimaat deur individuele aksies, soos boomplant, van kardinale belang. Solidariteit en globale optrede is nodig om die uitdagings wat voorlê die hoof te bied.

GREF is toegewy aan klimaatsverandering en omgewingsbestuur.

ENDS

18 July 2023 Media Release: Garden Route Skills Mecca gaining momentum

Media Release: Garden Route Skills Mecca gaining momentum

For Immediate Release
18 July 2023

The Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) socio-economic programme known as the Garden Route Skills Mecca (GRSM) held its third Skills Summit and inaugural Career Festival in Knysna last week from 13 – 14 July 2023. The Garden Route Skills Summit was attended by more than 200 delegates, who included several high-profile partners that will greatly benefit the Garden Route.

The Summit commenced with GRDM Municipal Manager, Monde Stratu, introducing Home Based Care Personal Assistants to the attendees. They delivered testimonies of their experiences in their theoretical and work-based learning environments. This initiative is a partnering and collaborative approach with the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA).

Home-based care practitioners with Municipal Manager, Monde Stratu (front) and other municipal representatives at the Garden Route Skills Summit.

The GRSM is grounded in its partnerships that allow the organisation or individuals to partner with the GRSM for future skills development programs and services.

The four (4) critical partners of the Garden Route Skills Mecca and beneficiaries of the GRSM, at the Skills Summit, included:

  • The Western Cape Education Department, in particular, the Eden and Central Karoo District.
  • The Western Cape Community Education and Training College
  • The Services Sector Education and Training Authority
  • The Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism

Through these partnerships an ongoing development programme that now integrates the schooling system and the community college structures more strongly into the Skills Mecca can be embarked on. This is new and exciting ground for the Skills Mecca as the programme expands across the Garden Route region.

Alderman Memory Booysen, during his address at the Skills Summit said: “We are on the right trajectory.”

“We will achieve success if we stay focused-driven, while keeping our vision, short-term and medium-terms in mind as we move forward.”

The Skills Summit allowed for a review of the Skills Mecca process and at least three new proposed solutions emerged that will need to be taken further by the Skills Mecca team:

  • All learners in the Skills Mecca programme should be tracked and traced after their programmes to determine how many gain employment;
  • The 4 local municipalities that have not to date hosted a Skills Summit – Bitou, Mossel Bay, Kannaland and Oudtshoorn – will be asked to submit formal proposals for the next Skills Summit in 2025;
  • A formal high-level District Coordination Forum process will be embarked upon (involving Mayors and Municipal Managers) to bring more local private sector businesses and their respective chambers and associations into the Skills Mecca process.

A new and innovative feature of the Garden Route Skills Summit was the inclusion of presentations from external stakeholders linked to business chambers or learning / employment opportunities in the Garden Route who are in support of the Skills Mecca. Five (5) such presentations were made that included:

The Skills Mecca has grown and developed over the last few years but the Summit clearly indicated that the concept needs to be taken to the next level. To give direction to that process, the Executive Mayor of the District Municipality, Alderman Memory Booysen tabled with delegates a plan to take the Skills Mecca to the next level that included a new logo and branding, a “Skills Mecca” copyright as well as the first-ever proposed vision and mission for the Skills Mecca.

According to Dr Florus Prinsloo, the GRSM Coordinator, “the Summit delegates endorsed all these proposals and they will be taken to the GRDM Council before being officially launched in the near future”.

The last part of the summit was then dedicated to a discussion and “workathon”. This segment focused on the Provincial Growth for Jobs Strategy (G4J) with a special emphasis on Priority Focus Area 7 – Improved Access to Economic Opportunities and Employability. During the various breakaway sessions, each of the seven local municipalities and the District Municipality considered the various interventions proposed under ‘Focus of Priority Focus Area 7’. The idea was for each breakaway group to identify possible existing or new projects that could drive the implementation of that intervention, forward. This work will now be taken into the various Skills Indaba processes at each local municipality and at the District level to ensure on-the-ground implementation.

While the above constructive work was in progress at the Summit, in parallel over two-days, 800 school-going youth and members and unemployed members of Knysna and surrounds attended the inaugural Career Festival. At this event, SETAs and training providers offered the attendees opportunities for exploring further learning and development.

The Garden Route Skills Summit also served as an introductory event for the Premier Council on Skills (PCS) that was held the next day on 14th July 2023 . It was the first time for the PCS to be held in Knysna.

“We need all hands-on-deck to keep our municipalities in our province functional through continuous skills development. And we should be competitive among ourselves.” Memory Booysen, Garden Route District Mayor, told the PCS.

For all the presentations and final skills summit report, browse here https://skillsmecca.gardenroute.gov.za/project/2023-summit/

For a gallery of the day’s activities, browse here: https://www.gardenroute.gov.za/galleries/2023-garden-route-skills-summit/

Feature image: GRDM Executive Mayor, Ald. Memory Booysen, GRDM Municipal Manager, Monde Stratu and the GRSM Coordinator and Dr Florus Prinsloo, with the team who ensured the Skills Summit, was a success.

ENDS