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Author: Herman Pieters

26 November 2020 Address by Executive Mayor, Alderman Memory Booysen at an Ordinary Council meeting of Garden Route DM

Address by Executive Mayor, Alderman Memory Booysen at an Ordinary Council meeting of Garden Route DM

Speaker Alderman Groenewald

Greetings to those who are following us online – fellow Garden Routers and the media. Mr Speaker, as we are gathered here today, we are a very concerned municipality, but so is our provincial government. Our concerns and worries are based on an ever-increasing number of COVID-19 active cases. The Garden Route is one of the regions where COVID-19 positive cases are rising the fastest in the Western Cape. By the current trend, we might end up being the fastest rising in the country. Please, therefore, abide by the regulations and do what we can to stop the spike we are seeing. We also want to congratulate the Premier’s office for their efforts. Our local municipalities also made contact with us to ask how we can advance the education and awareness to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Today, as we’re gathered here, there are more than 150 Local Government workers across South Africa who have lost their lives. I would also like to honour all front-line staff. Alderman Groenewald, life does however go on, as we are seeing people have moved back to business as usual. In the same breath, we need to caution one another, we are on the brink of Black Friday. Thankfully we have already approached shopping malls, and warned the public of the potential of Black Friday turning into a super-spreader event. I urge the public to stay safe during this busy time ahead – sanitise, wear a mask and keep a social distance of 1.5 metres.

To our colleagues and everybody online, we currently also experiencing and are aware of many of our colleagues who are in hospital. We suspect that they are hospitalised because of comorbidities. Our prayers go out to all of them and members of the public.

I want to urge the public to:

  • travel as little as possible;
  • avoid events where there are a lot of people.

If we do not do this, we will continue to lose loved ones along the way.

Because of the state of COVID-19 active cases in our region, we decided to take some precautionary measures. We’ve cancelled all our events, even the launch of 16 Days of Activism and the activities relating to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) programmes. However, we are continuing via virtual platforms as far as we can. We urge each and every municipality to follow suite. Speaking on the issue of gender-based violence, it is another pandemic our country still faces. Every day on the news we hear of new murders, rapes, in particular the killing of women and children. We really need to work together with all the law enforcement operators of the State to curb the GBV pandemic. Furthermore, I know there will be another meeting just before the festive season where we we will update the whole of Council in terms of what we’ve achieved thus far in terms of safety measures in our region.

Thank you Speaker Groenewald.

25 November 2020 Media Release: Ailing 17-year old fleet vehicle replaced

Media Release: Ailing 17-year old fleet vehicle replaced

For Immediate Release
25 November 2020

Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) recently replaced its 2003 Mazda Etude, which has over 200 000 km on its clock, with a brand new Toyota Corolla Quest. This comes at a time when the upkeep and safety of the 17-year old Mazda posed a number of risks and unintended maintenance costs for the GRDM.

According to Trix Holtzhausen, Executive Manager for Corporate Services, the vehicle served the municipality well for 17 years. “We used the Mazda to its limits and had to replace it because of  safety reasons and ongoing expenses to repair it,” said Holtzhausen. “We also uphold our fleet standards when we replace redundant assets,” she said.

An official handover ceremony took place at the Head Office of GRDM on 25 November in George in the presence of Mr Monde Stratu (Municipal Manager), Ms Trix Holtzhausen (Executive Manager: Corporate Services), Alderlady Iona Kritzinger (Portfolio Chairperson: Corporate Services), Ms Spasiena Brinkhuys (Manager: Records, Archives, Fleet & Auxiliary Services) and her support team.

The 2020 Toyota Corolla Quest wrapped in a giant red bow for the occasion.

Feature image caption: GRDM representatives, Mr Monde Stratu (Municipal Manager) hands over the Corolla’s key to Ms Trix Holtzhausen (GRDM Executive Manager: Corporate Services). Portfolio Chairperson for Corporate Services, Alderlady Iona Kritzinger is in the background (blue jacket) with employees from the Records, Archives, Fleet and Auxiliary Services Unit.

ENDS

24 November 2020 Media Release: Municipalities place skips in Thembalethu and Pacaltsdorp

Media Release: Municipalities place skips in Thembalethu and Pacaltsdorp

For Immediate Release
24 November 2020

Illegal dumping sites remain a problem for all seven (7) local municipalities in the Garden Route. As part of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) and George Municipality (GM) illegal dumping response, Thembalethu and Pacaltsdorp have been earmarked for additional assistance. As of now, nine (9) x 6m³ waste skips have been placed at illegal dumping hotspots. This includes seven (7) for Thembalethu and two (2) for Pacaltsdorp. These waste skips are being hired for the interim until George Municipality has concluded the procurement process of their own waste skips to be placed in and around illegal dumping hotspots in George.

Members of the public are urged to make proper use of the waste skips for disposing their household waste. The skips are meant to be used for refuse that cannot be stored until the weekly refuse removal days of GM.

According to Johan Compion, Manager: Municipal Health and Environmental Services for GRDM, “The placement and proper management of skips could also provide a solution to illegal dumping.  We are hopeful that a notable change will be visible as this pilot project continues, in addition, we await survey data being collected at the moment to provide more insights into the issue.”

Skips are free for everyone to use, but at the same time the public has to keep in mind that once skips are removed from hotspot areas, it does not mean that illegal dumping is permitted. General assumptions by GRDM about illegal dumping is that it takes place more frequently in informal or poorer communities because people can’t afford the transport or removal of waste to waste transfer stations.

The process of ensuring that skips are frequently emptied involves skip contractors. These small business owners are responsible for transporting waste skips to the George Waste Transfer Station. After emptying each skip, the containers are returned to the hotspots where they were collected. The help of 30 EPWP workers is evermore important as they assist municipalities to clear areas inaccessible to machinery. These same EPWP workers also tasked to assist the public, especially the elderly and children, to dispose of waste into the skips.

Twelve (12) Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) participants are still on the ground working with the JCBs to clear illegal dump sites. Thirty six (36) educators are also doing door-to-door education and awareness as well as a survey to determine the causal factors of illegal dumping; and the community requirements; or possible solutions to prevent issues in future. Twenty four (24) educators are working in Thembalethu and 12 in Pacaltsdorp. Each person, who moves in a group of six (6), is easily identifiable by a high visibility vest and identification cards.

Garden Route District Municipality wants to remind the public that Illegal dumping is a danger to your health and that of your children and animals – let’s put an end to illegal dumping and report perpetrators to our local municipalities.

Caption: A skip used for dumping waste at a spot in Nelson Mandela Boulevard.

ENDS

20 November 2020 Weather Warnings for Western Cape and Namaqua

Impact Based Warning for the Western Cape and Namaqua Region of Northern Cape:

 Hazard Alert Level Affected Municipalities Valid From (SAST) Valid To (SAST)
 Veld Fire Conditions Red(L10) Beaufort West, Hantam, Kannaland, Karoo Hoogland, Khâi-Ma, Laingsburg, Oudtshoorn, Prince Albert 21/11/20 08h00 21/11/20 18h00

Discussion: Weather conditions which includes hot temperatures, fresh to strong winds and low humidity might result in the development of veld/bush fires.

Impact: Conditions are such that the FDI index is above 75. Under these conditions fires may develop and spread rapidly resulting in damage to property and possible loss of human and/or animal life.

Instruction: All personnel and equipment should be removed from the field. Fire teams, labour and equipment are to be placed on full stand-by. At first sign of smoke, every possible measure should be taken in order to bring the fire under control in the shortest possible time.

19 November 2020 Media Release: Garden Route unemployed youth commences 12-month telecommunication network operations training

Media Release: Garden Route unemployed youth commences 12-month telecommunication network operations  training

19 November 2020
For Immediate Release 

Garden Route youth between the ages of 18 and 25 yesterday, 16 November 2020, received induction training for a 12-month telecommunication network operations learnership which will officially start today. The programme is a strategic partnership between Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), Muja Media, Long Ships and MICTSeta. GRDM Executive Mayor, Alderman Memory Booysen; GRDM Portfolio Chairperson for Roads and Transport Planning Services, Cllr Rowan Spies; Training and Development Committee Chairperson, Cllr Stephen De Vries; and Acting GRDM Municipal Manager, Ms Trix Holtzhausen, were present at the engagement with all the relevant stakeholders, including the 25 beneficiaries.

Mojo Media offers television products, outside broadcasting, content creation, audio-post production branded content, channel management, graphics, video editing and facility rentals. The training will take place at Bethesda in Rose Moore where they will be attending classes under the supervision of their Facilitator Mr Limbani Maxwell.

The Garden Route youth are ready to embark on their new journey with Mojo media. During the induction session it was evident that the learners are passionate about the road ahead of them, i.e. learning about Telecommunication. When they were given opportunity to meet the Executive Mayor, Alderman Memory Booysen, their faces lit up with smiles of hope for a positive change to their careers.

During Mayor Booysen’s address he said, “If the chance comes your way grasp it. I encourage all of you to shine in your work and to become the best you can be”. In his speech he focused on his own background too and how he progressed in life and where he finds himself now.

Learners were given the opportunity to thank all the stakeholders who made it possible for the learnership to exist. Two learners were chosen to share a word of thanks, Riaan Van Schalk Wyk and Akhona Ncaphayi. Akhona Ncaphayi displayed confidence in her speech when saying, ”On behalf of other learners, I would like to thank service Seta partnering with Garden Route District Municipality for giving us this opportunity to be a part of this learnership; this will help us to learn new skills.

Ms Yonela Ncaphayi ,  one of the Moja learners sharing a word of thanks to the organisers of the learnership.

GRDM frequently rolls out learnerships and internships to assist the youth to enter the job market. Many youngsters struggle to get work because they lack experience, which is why such interventions are of great value. Visit www.gardenroute.gov.za/vacancies to see what jobs and opportunities are currently offered by the GRDM.

ENDS

 

 

 

18 November 2020 Media Release: Garden Route District Municipality EHPs receive pepper spray training

Media Release: Garden Route District Municipality EHPs receive pepper spray training

For Immediate Release
18 November 2020

Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), Environmental Health Practitioners (EHP) and the Administrative Clerks received pepper spray training on 10 and 11 November 2020. The South African Police Services (SAPS) provided the training and placed a strong emphasis not only on self-defence methods but also about identifying risky situations to avoid assaults.

According to Mr Clive Africa, GRDM Executive Manager for Community Services, the training came at a time when crime statistics are on the rise and EHPs feel evermore unsafe while conducting inspections.

“The majority of our EHPs are women and they are particularly vulnerable, furthermore, in our country crimes committed against women and children remains a major concern for everyone,” said Africa.

Another reason for such training is, the GRDM’s intervention after an EHP was assaulted by a shop owner while conducting a compliance inspection. The EHP found that the foodstuffs at the business did not comply with the South African Regulations: Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs R146.

According to R146, labelling requirements include, but are not limited to:

  • Information in English and where possible one of the official languages
  • Product Name / descriptor
  • Address
  • Ingredients including compound ingredients
  • Indication of additives
  • Indication of ALL allergens
  • Country of origin
  • Batch ID
  • Date marking
  • Storage instructions
  • Weight declaration
  • Letter sizes for some items need to be in a designated font size and / or in a bold and / or uppercase font and positioned in a certain place.

The training also comes at a time when Government prepares for its 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which starts on the 25 November and ends on 10 December 2020. In addition, there have been numerous reports of ambulance crews in South Africa who have been victims of crimes, especially during the lockdown. The GRDM sees it as important to provide employees with the necessary tools to protect themselves. No one should feel threatened to do their work and everyone has the right to protect themselves from harm.

ENDS

Pictured: Bronwen Moolman, Environmental Health Practitioner for Garden Route District Municipality holding the pepperspray she now keeps by her when doing inspections.

17 November 2020 Media Release: Southern Cape community to reflect on environmental management during December 2020 event

Media Release: Southern Cape community to reflect on environmental management during December 2020 event

For Immediate Release
17 November 2020

“Worldwide there is a general perception that COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown measures implemented globally have had a positive impact on nature and the environment we share and depend upon for survival,” says Cobus Meiring of the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF).

“From crystal clear waterways in Venice to dolphins frolicking in places they were never to be found in modern times, clear and unpolluted skies in places like China and India, a dramatic drop in illicit animal trade, including reduced rhino poaching and the closure of wet markets in Asia, there is general consensus that the impact of humans on natural ecosystems is vast, and more importantly, that much of it can be addressed proactively by the collective if the will to do so can be generated.”

Says Meiring, “Closer to home, natural systems got a short break from constant and increasing human pressure, ranging from reduced emissions from the absence of thousands of vehicles on our roads during lockdown, zero activity on beaches, and a temporary pause on habitat destruction to make way for new houses and infrastructure.”

“Unfortunately, the effects of a changing climate and the calamities it causes globally were ever-present throughout 2020, as the Philippines was hit by ten typhoons and two super typhoons, and California suffered from the worst wildfire disaster of all times, leading to untold destruction, human displacement, and environmental damage and loss of biodiversity.”

According to Meiring environmental and conservation management actions in the Southern Cape will take centre stage on Wednesday 9 December as key regional stakeholders will reflect on actions they undertook during 2020, the challenges they faced, showcase their projects and make projections as to what they plan for 2021 at the annual GREF year-end report-back seminar.

The GREF event will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams. For more information, visit the website at

https://www.scli.org.za/gref-stakeholder-event-via-microsoft-teams-9-december-2020/

Photo: Touw River

Southern Cape river systems, such as the Touw River, are vital to regional biodiversity conservation connecting the Outeniqua mountains with the Indian Ocean. (Photo: Cobus Meiring)

 ** The Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF) is a regional forum for collaboration in conservation, environmental adaptation and community interaction. The forum aims to coordinate regional conservation efforts, serves as a catalyst to drive climate adaptation practices in the Southern Cape and strives to establish a better-coordinated approach to environmental management.

Website: www.scli.org.za/gref

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Cobus Meiring: Chair of the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF)

Cell: 083 626 7619

Email: cobus@naturalbridge.co.za

17 November 2020 Media Release: Hotspot alert issued for the Garden Route

Media Release: Hotspot alert issued for the Garden Route

For Immediate Release
17 November 2020

The Western Cape Government has issued an urgent hotspot alert for the Garden Route, due to the rapidly increasing number of Covid-19 cases in that area. This spike is mainly contributing to the notable growth of active cases in the Western Cape.
Specifically, we are concerned about the increasing number of cases in George, Knysna and Bitou. George, which currently has 628 active cases, has the highest number of active cases in the province.

Over the weekend, we saw:
• 160 new cases in George
• 145 new cases in Knysna/Bitou
• 41 new cases in Mossel Bay
• 7 new cases in Hessequa

Along with the increasing number of cases in the region, we are also seeing the number of hospitalisations increase. Our hospitals still have sufficient capacity to cope with the surge in cases, however, we must all be taking responsibility to ensure that we are able to contain the further spread of the virus. The hotspot team for the Garden Route has increased surveillance, through screening and testing. We are also working closely with the municipalities, environmental health teams, and stakeholders in the region to manage and contain the spread. This includes a concerted communications campaign in the area. We are also paying special attention to vulnerable groups, including old age homes.

We need every single resident of the Garden Route and visitors to the region to help us stop this surge by:
1) Wearing your mask at all times when out in public places
2) Avoiding gatherings
3) Avoiding crowded places, especially when there is poor ventilation
4) Staying at least 1.5 metre apart
5) Washing your hands with soap and water regularly
If you feel sick, stay at home and if you are experiencing symptoms, call the hotline on 080 928 4102 for directions and next steps.

We will only be able to bring this situation under control if everyone takes responsibility now.
On Thursday, my weekly digital press conference will specifically focus on the Garden Route and I will set out more details on our response plans for the district.
Let’s stay safe and keep moving forward.