Mr Kamaseelan Chetty, Senior Manager: Air Quality Information at the South African Weather Services, approached the Eden District Municipality (Eden DM) for a fact finding mission to the Eden DM Air Quality unit on 23 and 24 November 2016.
The SA Weather Service has current service agreements with certain Provincial and Local authorities, to assist them with capacity building of their respective Air Quality units. The purpose of the visit was to explore and learn best practices in respect of air quality, from the Eden DM Air Quality unit.
The team consisted of officials from the City of Tshwane, the SA Weather Services, Gert Sibande District Municipality, Nkangale District Municipality and the Mpumalanga Department of Environmental Affairs.
During the visit were (in no particular order): T. Hlanyane, S. Maruleka, N. Mpho, M. Mahlalela, K. Chetty (Facilitator- SA Weather Service), N. Potwana, E. Msatshe, B. Gericke, T Godobedzla and Dr Johann Schoeman (back, right) from the Eden DM Air Quality Unit.
On day one of the visit, Eden provided an introduction and background in terms of air quality management in the Eden district (how it all started, initial and current structure and lessons in establishing the function at district level). Aspects such as the Eden DM air quality management planning and Air Quality Management Plans, the Air Quality Bylaw, atmospheric emission licensing, enforcement and the Eden Air Quality Working Group, Air quality monitoring (ambient, in-stack) & vehicle emission testing, were covered.
The team then joined the Eden Air Quality Working Group on day 2 of the visit.
The SA Weather Services thanked Eden DM for the valuable lessons learned over the two day mission, where after the Eden DM team provided the visiting delegation with the necessary information, templates and systems to use as best practice for their respective air quality working environments.
“The Air Quality unit feels honored that they were approach out of all the Air quality units in SA for this fact finding mission,” concluded the Eden DM Air Quality Manager, Dr Johann Schoeman.
The Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) of the Eden District Municipality devote themselves to undertake routine water sampling of areas, situated along the Eden district, as a crucial part of the Municipal Health Services’ key performance areas.
Regular sampling of the following sites, situated within the five coastal areas are procured routinely, as well as prior to and during the December holiday season:
Environmental Health Practitioners from Eden District Municipality continuously monitor rivers, estuaries, lagoons and the ocean, to ensure safe and pollutant free coastal areas for residents and visitors of the Eden district.
A total of 12 “Blue Flag” beaches have been identified and proclaimed within the entire District, emphasising the very important role this region represents as prominent holiday and tourist destination.
The purpose of sampling at these sites is to ensure that all recreational areas that are being utilised by local residents and visitors, are safe and pollutant-free. The presence of pathogenic bacteria isolated in the water samples, is normally an indication of fecal pollution, which may originate from storm water run-off, pets and wildlife, as well as human sewerage. If present in high concentrations in water and ingested while swimming or enter the skin via a cut or sore, it may cause ear and throat infections, as well as gastro -enteritis.
A collaborative approach regarding the management of all coastal water bodies (including rivers, estuaries, lagoons and the ocean) with all other stakeholders, e.g. the South African National Parks (SANParks) and Nature Conservation, will ensure a safe and enjoyable holiday for everyone.
Coastal water bodies, such as rivers, estuaries, lagoons and the ocean, are regularly being monitored by Eden District Municipality’s Environmental Health Practitioners.
After an incident that occurred in one of Plettenberg Bay’s childcare facilities, Eden District Municipality’s Environmental Practitioners on 28 October 2016, embarked on a programme to create awareness about a bacterial infection named Impetigo.
The programme was held at the Bongolethu Crèche in Kwanokuthula, Plettenberg Bay. Mr Gawie Vos, Ms Zoleka Goniwe and Ms Nokuphiwa Mbali facilitated the session, which was attended by four teachers, 50 toddlers, as well the principal, Ms Beauty Mpondo.
1. What is Impetigo?
Impetigo is a highly contagious skin condition that is most common in children. It usually occurs on the face, neck and hands of young children and infants. Children who wear diapers also tend to get it around the diaper area. The disease occurs usually following another skin condition or an infection. Impetigo is caused by two bacteria – streptococcus pyogenes and staphylococcus aureus, which is highly contagious.
Environmental Health Practitioners from Eden District Municipality, Ms Zoleka Goniwe (right) and Ms Nokuphiwa Mbali (left), with the Principal of Bongolethu Crèche, Ms Beauty Mpondo (middle) and the toddlers at the crèche during the awareness programme.
2. What are the symptoms?
Impetigo symptoms can be uncomfortable and embarrassing, particularly when they are present on the face. Though the symptoms vary slightly from type to type of Impetigo, they are similar and can include: red sores that pop easily and leave a yellow crust, fluid-filled blisters, itchy rash, skin lesions and swollen lymph nodes.
3. How to prevent Impetigo?
In order to prevent Impetigo one needs to maintain good hygiene. These methods include: washing hands regularly, bathing or showering regularly, cleaning and covering any injuries to the skin.
With the children who eagerly participated in the activities and attentively listened to the facilitators, the participation of the teachers and attendance of the school principal, the programme was described as being a great success.
Representatives of The Haven Mossel Bay received the Santa shoe-boxes from representatives of the IDP Managers’ Forum.
The IDP (Integrated Development Planning) Managers’ Forum, representing all municipalities in the Western Cape, meets once every three months. The Western Cape Provincial Government is responsible for co-ordinating and arranging all activities in consultation with IDP Managers.
About two years ago the Forum unanimously adopted and agreed to do a social responsibility outreach as IDP Managers in the municipal area that hosts the meeting.
This Forum rotates to all the municipal districts, hence each municipality will eventually have the opportunity to host the forum.
The responsibility is on the host municipality to identify an organisational need and in collaboration with the organisation establish its specific short-term needs. The social responsibility contribution is a freewill offering by IDP Managers as a demonstration of the willingness and commitment to uplift the poorest of the poor.
The social responsibility contribution outreach went to the Mossel Bay Haven for the Homeless. The handover was done on Friday, 2 December, at the Garden Court Hotel. As it is December, “Santa shoeboxes” for this worthy cause were made and filled with gifts and necessities for the haven residents.
The following participated in the initiative: Nadia McDonald from the Western Cape Provincial Government Integrated Development Planning Directorate; Garry Olivier from the Mossel Bay Haven; Jody Beukes from the Mossel Bay Haven; Celeste Domingo – IDP Manager from the Eden District Municipality; Tertia Kannemeyer, IDP Manager Kannaland Municipality, Natalie Speelman from the Mossel Bay Haven; Eben Phillips, IDP Manager Knysna Municipality; Rudolph Wessels from the Haven; Simphiwe Piti, IDP Manager Central Karoo District Municipality; and George van der Westhuizen, Manager: Planning and Strategic Services, Mossel Bay Municipality.
During an Eden district wide study, it became evident that municipalities lack information, regarding the different types and volumes of waste, featured in their Integrated Waste Management Plans. For this reason, Eden District Municipality (Eden DM) took the initiative, to procure the necessary equipment required to conduct waste characterisation studies. This was done with the prize money received from the Greenest District Municipality Awards that was won in 2015.
From August 2015, the Eden DM Waste Management Section conducted waste characterisation studies in the Bitou-, Mossel Bay-, Knysna-, Hessequa- and Oudtshoorn Municipal areas. The reason behind these studies has been to obtain and provide a breakdown of the composition and quantities of household and commercial waste collected from different outlets and disposed at landfill sites. This information is needed to ensure proper integrated waste management planning.
A representative sample, relative to the total number of households per sub-area, was collected, identified, sorted and weighed. The waste was categorised into 15 different waste types, namely:
Soft plastics;
Hard plastics;
Paper;
Cardboard;
Glass metal;
Food waste;
Garden waste;
Textiles;
Wood waste;
Inert waste;
Nappies;
E-waste; and
Hazardous waste and more (waste that does not fall under the aforementioned categories).
The results obtained from the different sub-areas within the different municipalities, illustrated different trends in waste generation. These trends will be significant in identifying and prioritising the type of waste minimisation areas and management initiatives to implement in the various sub-areas. For example, home composting initiatives should be implemented in the sub-areas where garden waste was the most prominent component of the waste sampled.
A waste characterisation study is planned for early 2017 in the George Municipal area; whereafter similar studies will follow in the other local municipalities within the Eden district. The abovementioned studies will be performed on a bi-annual basis, in order to determine the seasonal waste generation trends. The majority of waste currently reaching the landfill site are recyclable materials.
21 October 2016 marked another victorious day for Eden District Municipality (Eden DM) and in particular, the Department: Community Services when they won the Western Cape Greenest District Municipality Award, for the fourth consecutive time and on top of that received R130 000.00 prize money. This announcement was made during a prestigious event which was hosted by the Western Cape Department Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, at the Devondale Golf and Wine Estate, in Stellenbosch. The awards were handed over by the Provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Mr Anton Bredell.
During the press conference (fltr) : Mr Johan Gie (District Waste Management Officer), Mr Clive Africa (Executive Manager: Community Services), Cllr Memory Booysen (Eden DM Executive Mayor), Mr Godfrey Louw (Municipal Manager) and Mr Johan Compion (Manager: Municipal Health & Environmental Services) with the awards won at the annual Greenest Local Municipality Awards ceremony.
Mr Clive Africa, Executive Manager of Community Services and his team, worked hard to keep the Eden district “green”. Excellence in service delivery has once again been achieved, exactly as the Eden DM vision reads: “Eden, a future empowered through excellence”.
During a press conference held to announce Eden DM’s achievements, Municipal Manager, Mr Godfrey Louw, congratulated all role-players for a job well done. He elaborated that excellence is one of the municipality’s seven (7) values and in cohesion with Eden DM vision; this achievement portrays a true testimony of service delivery outcomes, par excellence.
“Today, I consider myself as one of the most fortunate Mayors in South Africa, who took over a ‘well-run machine’, after the 2016 elections,” said Eden DM Executive Mayor, Cllr Memory Booysen. “A municipality who received a clean-audit in the 2015/16 financial year; a municipality who won the South African Toughest Firefighter Alive Championships and now this past week, received the Western Cape Greenest District Municipality Award, for the fourth consecutive time.” Furthermore, Cllr Booysen extended his congratulations to the other municipalities in the district who also received awards. In conclusion he mentioned that in order to ‘stay up there’, as Executive Mayor he will make sure that management and officials receive the political support in order to promote service delivery.
From the four (4) District Municipalities who participated in the 2016 competition, Eden DM won the Greenest District Municipality Award, which included the following categories:
• Waste Management;
• Water Management & Conservation;
• Climate Change Response;
• Coastal Management; and
• Air Quality Management.
In addition to this, the district also won awards for the “Clean Fires Campaign and the “Innovation Award” for the Enviro Health Application that is currently being used by Eden DM Municipal Health officials.
Hessequa Municipality won the following B-municipal categories and the overall Greenest Local Municipality:
• Climate Change Response
• Biodiversity Management
• Coastal Management
• Leadership and Compliance
In a very humble manner Mr Africa explained: “This award is a beautiful collaboration of love, labour and service. It would not have been achieved without strong team work. Mr Godfrey Louw, the Eden DM Municipal Manager, our Councillors, officials from Supply Chain and Corporate-/Strategic Services, including Administration Staff and Cleaners, all played a vital role in our success. This is proof that our vision of ‘Excellence’ has once more been achieved through focusing our energy towards service delivery to the valuable people of the Eden district”. The profound leadership of Mr Johan Compion must be acknowledged, as well as the dedication, passion and commitment of Dr Johan Schoeman, Mr Morton Hubbe, Mr Johan Gie and Mr Vernon Gibbs-Halls. Eden DM also won the award for innovation for the implementation of a Cell Phone App to improve service delivery and its efforts to inform communities about fire safety with the Eden Clean Fires Campaign.
Environmental Health Practitioners busy demonstrating proper hand-wash techniques to toddlers.
In a quest to educate communities, especially children at pre-school level about the benefits of proper health and hygiene habits, Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) from Eden District Municipality’s (Eden DM) Municipal Health Section, regularly visits crèches in the district.
On 20 and 21 October 2016, EHPs from the Mossel Bay Office, together with the Portfolio Councillor of Community Services, Cllr Khayelethu Lose visited six (6) crèches in Kwanonqaba and Great Brak River. During these visits, four hundred and fifty (450) toddlers and thirty five (35) teachers were reached and trained regarding the importance of proper hand-wash methods.
Toddlers and teachers were also trained in methods to improve hygiene behaviour, as well as ways to prevent diarrhoeal, sanitation and water-related diseases. One of the key messages communicated, was that good handwashing habits are the first line of defence against the spread of many illnesses, like common colds, to more serious infections, such as diarrhea.
Hand-wash techniques were demonstrated and the importance of using soap, were emphasised. Incentives, which included soap dispensers, hand-wash soap and paper towels, were handed out. The project was a great success and feedback received from crèches, was very positive.
Practical training will be provided to the group of excited learners by Fancourt, Reheifo Lodge and Shenanigans.
The purpose of the Induction was to foster greater appreciation amongst learners and to inform them about future opportunities that exist in the Hospitality Industry in South Africa and abroad.
Considering that “youth development” and “building a capacitated workforce in communities,” forms part of the strategic objectives of Eden DM, the Municipality seized this opportunity and partnered with the NDT and other local role players, to serve on the project advisory committee to monitor the success of the Programme.
The delegates from China with stakeholders from the Eden district shortly after discussions.
A dialogue between various Eden district stakeholders and a Chinese delegation, took place on 8 October 2016 at Oubaai and could lead to stronger trade relations as soon as China buys into what the Eden district has on offer. The Executive Mayor of Eden District Municipality (Eden DM), Councillor Memory Booysen, chaired the engagement and allowed a few local businesses from the agriculture, health and training sectors, to introduce their products and services to Dr Hongbin Cheng and his partners.
Dr Cheng is the Co-founder of New China Times Technology (NCTT), the Managing Director of Beijing Sinoera Technology (BST) and the General Manager in South Africa’s Taichi He. Dr Cheng’s close ties with the Chinese government is an advantage to trade and this will make links to China and South Africa easier. Dr Cheng proposed that a Communication Centre be built in South Africa, to enable efficient communication between the two countries. Communication centres have already been established in Korea, Thailand, Germany and soon in the Netherlands. It is envisaged that Dr Cheng will return next year (2017) with an extended delegation to continue discussions and to visit sites in the Eden district.
The George Executive Mayor, Cllr Melvin Naik welcomed the delegates and said the following: “We want to export, we want to import and we want to do business with other countries, but we have to put our money where our mouths are. I want you to engage with our people and when you come across local businesses that you can assist or help grow, please do so.”
Eden DM Executive Mayor agreed that there might be a level of difficulty when engaging with China via a national level and that engagements should be scaled down to a local level, especially between the more than 300 cities of China. “Those cities should talk to our cities,” and he boasted that “as you spend time with us you will find that this is a great region. We have highly educated people, we are politically stable, we have a good transport system – we are ready for business”.
An extended group of Chinese delegates plan to return to the Eden district during 2017. With Dr Hongbin Cheng (middle), is Councillor Memory Booysen, Eden DM Executive Mayor (left) and Councillor Melvin Naik, George Executive Mayor (right).
With reference to a news article “George and Eden way over budget,” published in the George Herald on Thursday, 29 September 2016, page 14, the Eden District Municipality responds as follows:
“The properties of Eden District Municipality were revalued during the 2014/2015 financial year by independent valuators that were appointed. Impairment losses of R244 million had to be processed against the value of the properties, as the market values of the properties, as per the latest valuations performed, decreased significantly since the previous valuation that was performed.
Impairments on investment properties (land) was R85 million, impairments on investment properties (buildings) was R619 000 and the impairment loss on Land and Buildings (property, plant and equipment) was R159 million, thus the total impairment loss of R244 million was processed in the statement of financial performance, under the expenditure line items, resulting in the unauthorised expenditure. With the compilation of the budget and adjustment budget for 2014/2015 in January 2015, it was not foreseen that the property value would decrease with R244 million and thus no provision on the budget was made for the impairment loss, thus resulting in the unauthorised expenditure.
Please take note that the unauthorised expenditure was not due to payments processed, but merely a financial year-end book entry, to ensure that the assets are reflected at the correct values in the financial statements and fairly represents the assets and liabilities at year-end, which is presented to the office of the Auditor-General for audit purposes.
This item has been tabled before the Financial Services Portfolio Committee, the Audit and Performance Audit Committee, as well as Council. Council approved the write-off of the unauthorised expenditure in June 2016.”
For more clarity on the above matter, contact:
Ms Louise Hoek – Chief Financial Officer – Financial Services Department
E-mail: louise@edendm.co.za / Tel: 044 803 1449
