With the imminent Local Government Elections, Mayor Afzul Rehman is determined to leave his mark on the town of Newcastle.
At the first official Council meeting of 2016 last Wednesday, January 27, Cllr Rehman delivered his annual report on the accomplishments of the Executive Committee.
“It has been a roller coaster ride for Council, but I am feeling nostalgic as we leave footprints for generations to come,” he opened his address.
Cllr Rehman claimed when the ANC came into power in 2011, his office had found the municipality in turmoil.
Realising the ruling party had to reevaluate priorities, Council quickly got to work to create job opportunities, alleviate poverty and build up the town through social cohesion and economic development.
Cllr Rehman said the municipality made a positive contribution to the town.
“We have submerged through the bottleneck, and since coming into power, we have spent R1.67-billion on operational and structural projects. Transformation does not happen overnight, but we are changing people’s lives.”
Cllr Rehman said councillors had much to be proud of, especially the development of infrastructure in rural areas.
“As a Council, we led the way to go paperless to save costs and we had come up with innovative ways to deal with load-shedding. We also created 10 700 jobs through municipal projects.”
However, Council faced its fair share of obstacles.
Municipal Manager, Kebone Masange, resigned during the financial year, and other management personnel left.
The new municipal office complex was met with trepidation by the community.
Cllr Rehman said these obstacles were faced and the municipality was growing stronger by the day.
Referring to the upcoming Local Government Elections and the possibility of a new ruling party in Newcastle, he emphasised the importance of the continuous development of infrastructure.
“Ours is a good story to tell with many chapters still to come,” he concluded.
The Auditor General’s report was read at the Council meeting.
While the council was commended in the report for projects undertaken, it would seem municipal officials lacked commitment in completing necessary documentation and submitting financial statements on time.
Municipal officials were encouraged to focus on their managerial skills.
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