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7 August 2020 Media Release: GRDM looses its second employee, Lemos Soko, to COVID-19

Media Release: Garden Route DM loses its second employee, Lemos Soko, to COVID-19

For Immediate Release
7 August 2020

Mr Lemos Soko (47) passed away on 6 August 2020 after battling with COVID-19 in ICU for two weeks. He is the second Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) employee to sadly pass away due to COVID-19 complications. Lemos worked at the GRDM Roads Department since 16 April 1998.

Employees gathered via Zoom today to recollect the fond memories held of Lemos and the impact he had on the institution throughout his 22-year employ. During the meeting, Alderman Memory Booysen (Executive Mayor for GRDM), Mr Monde Stratu (Municipal Manager), Mr John Daniels (Executive Manager for Roads Services), Mr Japie Strydom (Manager: Construction and Mechanical Services) and Mr Gert Verwey (Deputy Manager: Operations) shared their fond memories of him. “He was a gentle giant and always willing to go the extra mile,” are some of Lemos’ key personality traits that GRDM’s representatives shared.

Lemos Soko at work in front of one of the many Roads machines he could operate.

Lemos spent his first few years at GRDM working as part of the Harold Construction Team. Over the past few years he worked alongside a maintenance team in the Friemersheim area. In describing his skills and work ethic, Mr Daniels said, “he was one of the few employees who could operate every roads machine,” and “he went out of his way to ensure that the team’s daily tasks were completed, even though some of these tasks were not his responsibility”.

Mr Simon Mankonkwana, a colleague and best friend of Lemos, described his passing as a huge loss and a void in his life. Lemos also left behind a wife, four (4) children and five (5) grandchildren.

Alderman Booysen shared his condolences and a message of support to everyone present on behalf of Council by saying: “We tend to run out of words during times like these, especially in light of the fact that we are not only loosing colleagues and friends, but also family members.”

“Although we are a big family at the GRDM, we are going to be broken for a long time,” he said.

Ald. Booysen also encouraged employees to try their best to rise above the fear currently experienced, although it is natural to feel scared of such a dreadful disease and its effects on society.  Mayor Booysen said that the GRDM would walk the walk with Lemos’ family and offer its undivided emotional and spiritual support.

8 August 2020 Severe Weather Alert: Damaging Winds

The Cape Town Weather Office has issued the following weather alert.

Hazard: Damaging Winds

Alert level: Watch
Valid from (SAST): 08/08/20 – 12h00
Valid to (SAST): 09/08/20 – 00h00

A Gale force NW wind (62 to 74km/h) is expected between Cape Point and Cape Agulhas and over the Central Karoo (Western Cape) tomorrow(08/08/2020).

ADVISORY
1.Strong (50-65km/h) north westerly winds are expected over the interior of the Western Cape on Saturday and Sunday (08-09/08/2020).
2.Strong to near gale force (60-70km/h) north westerly winds are expected between Lamberts Bay and Cape Point on Saturday (08/08/2020) but strong to gale force (65-80km/h) westerly to south-westerly between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay overnight into Sunday (09/08/2020).

DESCRIPTION: Dangerous veld/bush fire conditions

Whenever there are prolonged periods of little and no rain coupled with warm dry winds, veldt or bush fires can easily be sparked and will spread rapidly in strong winds.

PRECAUTIONS: Dangerous veld/bush fire conditions

Don’t make fires in the open and/or leave fires unattended. Don’t throw cigarette butts out of cars or in the open veldt. Don’t throw bottles in the veldt as they can magnify the sun’s rays and start fires. Prepare and maintain fire breaks in controlled manner. In the case of a large fire report it immediately and move away from the area to let the professionals deal with it. Never throw water onto a fire started by an electrical fault or fires started by oil or paraffin lamps. In this case sand or a blanket should be used to smother the fire. Listen to the radio or TV for warnings and obey the instructions from disaster management officers.

Report any severe weather incidents to the Garden Route Disaster Management Centre at: 044- 805 5071

#SevereWeatherAlert #GardenRouteDM #StaySafe

7 August 2020 Media Advisory: Minister Madikizela to visit Garden Route district (07 August to 11 August)

Media Advisory: Minister Madikizela to visit Garden Route district (07 August to 11 August)

For Immediate Release
7 August 2020

This weekend, the Western Cape MEC for Transport and Public Works, Minister Bongikosi Madikizela, will be visiting the Garden Route district to assess compliance to Covid-19 regulations at various sites in the area.

The programme will commence in Bitou on Friday (this afternoon) at 16h00, with Knysna that will follow from 8h00 to 12h30 on Saturday.  The George area will be next on the programme starting on Sunday from 9h00 to Monday 12h30. MEC Madizikela will conclude with his visits on Tuesday from 9h00 to 11h30 when he visits Mossel Bay.

Madikizela will focus on compliance adherence regionally, in particularly long distance transport and taxi ranks, including road blocks. Taxi ranks need to adhere to 70% loading capacity.

As part of this initiative, Minister Madikizela also plans to meet with transport stakeholders and officially open a government vehicle pool facility during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in George.

Media Queries – Cell: 082 953 002

ENDS

iStock.com/ra2studio

7 August 2020 Media Release: Garden Route Health Platform Update 7 August 2020

Media Release: Garden Route Health Platform Update 7 August 2020

For Immediate Release
7 August 2020

 As of 7 August 2020, the Garden Route District has 6919 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

Cases 

Garden Route cases and recoveries per subdistrict.

  • Bitou 467 cases; 342 recoveries
  • Knysna 1119 cases; 820 recoveries
  • George 2819 cases; 2181 recoveries
  • Hessequa 205 cases; 170 recoveries
  • Kannaland 59 cases; 47 recoveries
  • Mossel Bay 1595 cases; 1116 recoveries
  • Oudsthoorn 655 cases; 359 recoveries

The Garden Route has recorded 175 Covid-19 deaths.

Hessequa 8
Mossel Bay 33
George 66
Knysna 29
Bitou 15
Oudtshoorn 23
Kannaland 1

Hospitalisation

From our latest available information, there are currently 153 patients admitted in public and private hospitals of which 47 are in High Care/ICU.

Community Testing and Screening

The approach to active Covid-19 case finding within the rural areas remain that of community testing and screening with a focus on people > 55 years and those with high risk (people with co-morbidities). To date 145 052 people have been screened of whom 1274 have been referred for testing.

Isolation and quarantine

People who cannot isolate or quarantine safely at home (risk to themselves or exposure risk to others), can be referred to an isolation or quarantine facility.

Isolation facilities are for patients who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus (with mild to moderate symptoms) where they can recover. Quarantine facilities are for those have been exposed and are awaiting test results. These facilities are safe, have been made as comfortable as possible and you will receive free transport, meals, and a laundry service.

PetroSA (West Camp) is currently the only activated isolation and quarantine facility in the Garden Route. More facilities have been identified and will be activated, if and when the need arises or capacity is exceeded at PetroSA. We currently have 63 people at the West Camp facility.

Primary healthcare  

Our Primary Health Care platform is an important vehicle to support our health system, provide health services closer to the communities and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed with services that can be provided outside of acute hospital settings. Although we advise patients to only visit their nearest clinic for essential services at this time; we remind parents and caregivers that services such as immunisations are still rendered. It is important to attend all your confirmed appointments. Services such as women’s health (family planning, antenatal and post-natal care), child health(immunisations) and TB, are still rendered. Stable chronic care patients must collect their chronic medicine at the chronic off-sites. Should you require guidance or advice around your current treatment or scheduled appointment, please contact your clinic/hospital.

Shielding the  vulnerable

Persons over the age of 55 or have a chronic condition are at risk for severe COVID-19 illness and should take extra precautions to protect themselves by following these steps:

  1. Avoid getting the virus by staying home, wear a mask (when you have to go out), wash hands regularly and disinfect surfaces
  2. Look after your health by following a healthy lifestyle and take your medication regularly
  3. Get help immediately if you do not feel well
  4. If you develop COVID-19 symptoms, go for immediate screening and testing if required, do not delay

The Department has implemented an action plan for Diabetics (regarded as a high risk group) with COVID symptoms which includes expanding testing for diabetics and closer monitoring.

Next 100 days          

The Department has identified the next 100 days as crucial to refocusing the health system and health services while still managing the pandemic with continued interventions to increase immunisation coverage, TB treatment and ART for HIV uptake.

We urge all citizens to remain careful in observing the essential 5 Golden Rules of hygiene and safety. It remains important to take particular care of vulnerable and high risk persons with underlying conditions as they are at significantly increased risk of severe COVID-19. We urge vulnerable and most at risk people to really take special care and to shield themselves from exposure where possible.  Make sure you wear your mask when going out to protect yourself and others.

The protection and wellbeing of all our people remains in our collective hands.

 

-END-

Nadia Ferreira
Principal Communications Officer
Garden Route and Central Karoo Districts
Western Cape Government Health
Town Clinic, Plettenberg Bay
Tel: 076 379 5423

Email: Nadia.Ferreira@westerncape.gov.za

Website: www.westerncape.gov.za

Picture credit: iStock.com/ra2studio

6 August 2020 Message from Ms Maxwelline Fatuse – Environmental Health Practitioner

Topic:  Being a Frontline Worker

5 August 2020 Message from Councillor Clodia Lichaba

Topic: Gender-Based Violence

5 August 2020 Media Release: More EPWP essential workers for the Garden Route to stop the spread of COVID-19

Media Release: More EPWP essential workers for the Garden Route to stop the spread of COVID-19

For immediate release
5 August 2020

With the Garden Route district being identified as one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the Western Cape, the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), last month trained 119 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) essential workers, to assist at hotspots in the district and to create awareness about COVID-19.

With the substantial surge of infections over the past weeks, more workers have been recruited of which now reached a total of 226 workers on the programme, with eighty (80) being recruited to service the George municipal, area as the hotspot of the Garden Route. Twenty-eight (28) workers have been deployed to Knysna, 36 to Hessequa, 30 to Bitou, 20 to the Greater Oudtshoorn municipal area, 12 to Kannaland and 20 to Mossel Bay.

EPWP workers trained by GRDM Environmental Health Practitioners to assist at hotspots within the Garden Route district.

According to Mr Richard Dyantyi, Manager for the EPWP at the GRDM, the increase number of essential workers in these areas, was influenced by the rise in the COVID-19 infections.  Hence the deployment by the National Department of Public Works in collaboration with National Department of Health.

Their tasks include:  health promotion on COVID-19 prevention by creating awareness, the distribution of soap and hand sanitizers, cleaning and disinfection of public areas that are frequently visited by members of the public such as  SASSA pay points,  taxi ranks, communal water collection points and areas identified by GRDM Municipal Health Services. All these tasks are performed with the personal protective equipment provided by the Independent Development Trust (IDT). He also said: “All workers are trained and supervised by Environmental Health Practitioners from GRDM. The recruited EPWP participants are subjected to a screening process, which is coordinated by the GRDM Municipal Health Services . The recruitment is done in such a way that the appointed workers service their respective local Municipal wards,” he added.

The Executive Mayor of GRDM, Alderman Memory Booysen, highlighted: “The increased number of essential workers to these hotspots is an indication that we adapt our efforts to ensure that we address the pandemic as it unfolds. We cannot entirely predict the number of persons to be infected, as community transmissions are highly unpredictable, but we can intensify our initiatives to address the demands, if needed. This is one such example thereof,” Mayor Booysen concluded.

The Head of  Disaster Management at GRDM, Mr Gerhard Otto, said that this additional manpower will assist on ground level to monitor the Covid-19 safety measures i.e. social distancing, regular washing of  hands with soap and water as well as the wearing of face masks. Over the next two to three weeks a whole of government approach with all “hands on deck” would be required to slow down the spread of this deadly virus and ensure the flattening of Covid-19 curve. This would assist in ensuring that our health system meets the ever-increasing demand for critical health care.

This programme is an initiative of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) as a member of the National Joints (NatJoints) Committee, who identified this initiative as the best response mechanism to assist the Department of Health to deliver required public health services at elementary level for purposes of COVID-19 spread prevention and control. The programme is a collective effort between the DPWI, Independent Development Trust, NPOs (such as Edu-Plett and God Care International), Department of Employment and Labour, GRDM and Local Municipalities in the Garden Route district.

Also read: https://www.gardenroute.gov.za/2020/06/22/epwp-essential-workers-to-assist-at-covid-19-hotspots-in-the-garden-route/

ENDS

4 August 2020 Message from Ms Mouseline Maree

4 August 2020 Media Release: Bricklaying Apprenticeship continues to benefit youth of the Garden Route

Media Release: Bricklaying Apprenticeship continues to benefit youth of the Garden Route

For immediate release
4 August 2020

The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa, together with the Services SETA, approached the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) to participate and pilot an A21 Bricklaying Apprenticeship programme. The municipality was provided with ten (10) seats for unemployed youth in the district.

The seats offered to the municipality were split between Bitou Municipality and GRDM and the programme started in March 2019, stretching over a period of three (3) years.

However, with the lockdown announced in March this year, the programme had to be temporary brought to a halt.  During this period, the South Cape College which was appointed as training provider, continued to pay stipends to the apprentices, as per the directive of the Department Higher Education and Training (DHET) since the lockdown was announced.

This programme is an initiative of the Department of Higher Education and Training and was designed to meet two objectives:

  • to address the demand for priority trades needed for the implementation of Government’s National Development Plan in general and its National Infrastructure Plan more particularly;  and
  • to contribute towards the building of capacity of its public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College system to deliver trade qualifications with employer partners.

According to Mr Reginald Salmons, GRDM Coordinator for Skills Development and Training, the initiative was also identified as part of the Garden Route Skills Summit resolutions, to “Progressively support the development of the new apprenticeship of 21st Century (A21) in the District”.

The programme is currently in its second year and has resumed in June 2020.

The learners are being trained theoretically by South Cape College and then do their practicals at a construction company identified by the GRDM.

Photo Caption:  Skills Development and Training officials at Garden Route District Municipality, Ms Angeline Naidoo (left) and Mr Reginald Salmons (fifth from left) with the participants of the A21 Bricklaying Apprenticeship in the District.