Finally, the year 2016 has come to an end.
As I greet you at the beginning of this new year, I want to first and foremost wish all residents a prosperous year.
Individually and collectively, let us strive for excellence in every positive thing that we do. Our communities require all of us to play a role in this regard.
As the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), we will pick up where we left off.
Obviously it was a good year for some and a bad one for others. There is, however, time for correction in 2017 for those who didn’t do well.
I would like to commend our civic organisation for the good job done throughout 2016. There are just no proper words to define how grateful we are to have Sanco as our active civic movement.
Late last year Sanco held an NEC (national executive committee) meeting, which is the highest decision-making body between conferences. It was there that national leadership adopted a resolution on the Local Government Elections.
The resolution specifies the following: The list must reflect the inclusive geographical spread. The list must reflect gender balance according to the Sanco Gauteng NGC resolution. We will lobby the ANC leadership to consider the following split of Sanco members’ representation in the Metro, Districts and local list – in the Metro and District Municipalities, a maximum of 10 members, with a minimum of six and one position for inclusion in the Mayoral Committee; and the deployment of the ANC West Rand regional chairperson, Boyce Maneli, to be the West Rand District Municipality Executive Mayor. Sanco sees the move as the greatest achievement of all times, because councillor Maneli is a long-standing card carrying member of Sanco in good standing. Hence, as Sanco, we are going to give him all the support that he needs.
A Mogale City Sanco leader said grass roots structures were still pained from the shock of the Mogale City losses in the last year’s local government elections. But, nevertheless, Sanco has successfully ‘deployed its cadres’ through the ANC ticket in all the West Rand municipalities as their local representatives. For example – Sanco in the region has deployed its West Rand Organiser, Jeremiah Molibatsi Jim, who is popularly known in political circles as Bishop, to be the councillor of Ward 11 in Kagiso.
