Executive Mayor’s Speech – 1st GRDM Council Meeting of 2021

Mr Speaker,

The blessing on behalf of all of us on this platform, is that we have made into 2021.

I know that we had an extremely difficult 2020. And hopefully Mr Speaker and everybody on this platform and all the Garden Routers, it is in our hands to make this a better year. We know what is required from us and I am mentioning this, as also alluded by the Speaker, is that Covid-19 has hit us very hard. Hard in a sense that, we have lost loved ones. We have lost prominent South Africans and leaders of the country. We have lost staff members and we are still sitting with many active cases Mr Speaker and hopefully, as I am praying here, is that we really survive this, by means of changing our behaviour.

Mr Speaker, we know that this is the first meeting of the new year and we are still sitting with many challenges and we are well-known for not backing down on challenges. Some of the challenges Mr Speaker, is the fact that there are a lot of projects that we need to roll out this year. One being, the regional landfill site – we know what happened with the project. Therefore it is something that needs to be completed, because it becomes another pandemic in waiting, to fail on it. The good news Speaker is that with all the efforts that we have put into this project, people have taken note – the European Union has made contact with us in terms of trying to partner with us in this regard. We also know that the University of Kwazulu-Natal and the University of Crete also contacted us. This is just an indication that we are really trying the best we can and with all of this on our table and the participation of Council and officials, we will make this work.

Also Mr Speaker, it has being coming a long way that we have being negotiated a regional foodbank. Although there are still a lot of scepticism around, but once again we are not going to sit back and fold our arms – we as the GRDM has started the initiative and I will make time very soon to have a look at the operations at the Food Pantry. We have dealt with this at the District Coordinating Forum (DCF), but we will take it back to the DCF, now that it is operational so that all the Mayors and Municipal Managers and relevant Officials can experience this first hand. Thank you to the partners, thank you to those who have donated up to now and those that still plan to donate. We really appreciate this, because it really makes a difference in the lives of the people. Because things are different Mr Speaker, we now also need to do things differently, we now need to put livelihoods and communities (peoples’ dignities) first.

Lastly, allow me to welcome the two councillors, Cllr Ndumiso and Cllr Ruiters. As other speakers have indicated, it is indeed a learning college that we have stepped in, in terms of how we do things politically and administratively and I am sure that they will enjoy it.

I thank you.

Executive Mayor’s Speech – GRDM Council meeting on 9 December 2020

Mr Speaker,

BY-ELECTIONS – 9 DECEMBER 2020

I’m still tired of last night’s by-elections – this region once again proved itself that we can work together.

Mr Speaker, I would like to congratulate all the winners of last night – all the different political parties. We will still work together – there were no incidents of which I am aware of, therefore very well done to all the politicians.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Last Friday we had a visit by the National Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkize, and also the Western Cape MEC of Health, Honorable Nomafrench Mbombo and all the relevant role-players, partners, stakeholders and front-line people – all joined under one roof and all eyes are on us as the Garden Route as to what will be the next step in terms of addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is evident that the numbers are still increasing and we are therefore pleading with the people, that all of this is in our own hands – we can only confront this if we stick to the basics and that we are not going to get tired in alerting people on what we are supposed to do. To reflect on that meeting, our gratitude of GRDM, on behalf of all the local municipalities, all the frontline people dealing with this pandemic – we know you do the best that you can. We are very fortunate in the sense that we do have the facilities in the Western Cape, in particularly the Garden Route.

The challenge is that the facilities will be strained if the numbers continue to grow and then we will exhaust our human resources such as medical doctors, nurses, to name a few. We are sincerely asking the people to take that into account – their behaviour will determine the outcome of the Garden Route. The President of the Republic of South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa, will make an announcement what will be the next step for the Garden Route. We’ve managed to put together a broader Joint Task Team initiative, which includes a broader spectrum – medical doctors, fire fighters, law enforcement officers, the South African Police Service, the Department of Labour, etc.

Again, out of this initiative, we have now embarked on spot-checks where we visit premises – I must say out of those spot-checks, we’ve already closed down some businesses in George and Hessequa, because they were found to be non-compliant. We are strictly monitoring the regulations as well. To all the business people out there and everybody else, we will be visiting business premises for inspections to see if people indeed comply.

The next focus will be on businesses in the hospitality industry and recreation spaces. We will unfortunately have to close any business down should they not comply. We are sick and tired of people not taking this pandemic seriously. We as GRDM, will be issuing more than 1 000 Covid-19 kits to be distributed to informal businesses.

ADDRESSING ILLEGAL DUMPING IN THE GARDEN ROUTE

Also, as a reminder to the people of the Garden Route, we did embark on a project in relation to fighting illegal dumping – it is a battle that we’re still engaging in. As soon as we have cleared certain areas, people go and dump again – it is a matter of education. People must not think that if we clear an illegal dumpsite, that it is regarded as a collecting point. These behaviours lead to comorbidities – we will start acting against offenders. We therefore encourage all communities in the Garden Route to also put ears and eyes in the streets, to identify the culprits and deal with them accordingly. To date, we have already cleared 100 cubic meters of waste. We realise there is still plenty to be done, but the roll-out of the project will continue with skips that were placed at illegal dumping hotspots.

BEST WISHES FOR THE FESTIVE PERIOD

This is also the last Council meeting for 2020 and on that note; I would like to wish all the councillors, officials and all our stakeholders, a Merry Christmas and a BETTER 2021. This year, 2020, has been tough on all of us. I also know because of the pandemic, meetings will still continue virtually – please be on standby if this happens.

I thank you.