Mayor delivers a message of hope to Vryheid Tourism

The 19th Annual General Meeting oVryheid Tourism took place on March 15.

As always, the hospitality industry of Vryheid did not fail to impress and honoured guests and councillors were treated to an elegant, well-organised evening.

AbaQulusi Mayor, Martin Mtshali, delivered a heartfelt speech, welcoming those in attendance and recognising former colleagues, and current members of Vryheid Tourism and the AbaQulusi Municipality.

His message was one of hope.

“In AbaQulusi, we thrive on hope…”said Mayor Mtshali, stating that we need to look into the history of AbaQulusi and the former men and women of integrity. “Today we need to pluck a leaf from their time… With hope, we can take AbaQulusi to the highest level,” he continued.

Mayor Mtshali described Christo Swanepoel, who was present at the meeting, affectionately as “the best water man” that Vryheid has ever seen and stated that “we need to tap into Christo Swanepoel’s experience” in the field to successfully solve our water crisis.

“We have been hard hit by the drought,” he added. “Decisions must be made and, whatever the decision, one must live with it…”

The Mayor apologised for what he described as the “abuse of residents” in recent times, referring to the tough conditions the community has been through during the water crisis.

“It is painful to see our ratepayers running up and down town with water… Maybe in June there won’t be anyone carrying water in town anymore,” he said with a hopeful smile. “But we need support,” he added.

“The challenges that we now face are challenges that we contend with on a daily basis,” continued the Mayor. “Water meters need to be replaced, pumps need to be fixed and the old asbestos pipes need to be replaced…”

The Mayor then eluded to the fact that he and Acting Municipal Manager, Dalisu Zulu, had recently travelled to Centurion to source funds to make all of these repairs possible. “From April 1, things will happen,” he said encouragingly.

“We have inherited an organogram that does not speak to the needs of the municipality,” he stated. “We need to look at policies and make them more investor-friendly…”

“There are many challenges in place, but I am extending my hand to the community,” said the Mayor. “I need the residents of AbaQulusi to reciprocate.”

“Let us remember where our strength is, where our might is and take our town forward.”

The newly-elected committee of Vryheid Tourism is as follows: President – Dons Grobler, Vice-President – Mrs T Yaka, Treasurer – Annelize Vorster, Additional Members – Ankia van Wyk, Johan Kruger, Wilfred Mchunu, Melissa Bester and Allen Small, Honorary Members – Gustav Ruhrs and Alex Wood.

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