Mayor leads clean-up in Sunnyside

Fresh off announcing her 100-day plan to revitalise the metro, Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya led a service delivery drive in Sunnyside, Pretoria Central on November 1.

Dubbed the Re A Spana campaign, according to the mayor, the effort sought to reclaim and transform public spaces in Tshwane.

“The objective behind Re A Spana is to foster active citizen engagement and strengthen public-private collaboration to restore our city. The city will lead this multidisciplinary campaign, collaborating with business, non-governmental organisations, civil society and the public to create visible change through joint efforts.”

Moya said Re A Spana extends beyond a basic clean-up and encourages the community to volunteer their time and expertise to improve public spaces and neighbourhoods. The effort was supported by members of TMPD, Home Affairs, Gauteng Traffic, and SAPS, as well as officials from various metro departments.

It was designed as a cross-functional operation, combining clean-up efforts with service delivery interventions and by-law enforcement, an initiative that will be rolled out in all seven regions.

“For years, many residents have felt abandoned and neglected in terms of basic service delivery. The new administration is here to restore hope and provide equitable services. We have a target to improve on six priority areas in the city that we believe are key to advancing equitable basic service delivery,” said Moya.

The operation included the following interventions:

– Litter picking, tree felling and grass cutting

– By-law enforcement

– Homelessness outreach

– Engagement with local businesses

– Environmental health services

– Street light maintenance

– Pothole and water leak repairs

“What I have observed today is sheer lawlessness, people come from outside of our country and come here and sell us counterfeit goods. They come and sell us expired goods because they are targeting the poor working class. We are saying that as the City of Tshwane, that is not going to be tolerated,” said Moya.

Part of the 100-day plan aims to address financial stability, economic revitalisation, infrastructure development, equitable basic service delivery, by-law enforcement and community engagement.

MMC of Community Safety, Hannes Coetzee, reiterated the mayor’s zero-tolerance policy toward corruption.

“We have a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to corruption and we implement the inter-departmental by-laws. We are looking at licences and we are here to ensure there is compliance with the law and we say to the criminals that you better run because we are coming for you,” Coetzee said.

TMPD Chief, Yolanda Faro expressed her gratitude at the number of the departments that have come together to enforce the law in the CBD.

“We’ve already closed three shops because of business licencing issues and we also have the counter-fraud department inspecting the goods that we find that are counterfeit. We are also looking at expired food and we are also looking at total lawlessness, we are ensuring that there is an enforcement of by-laws in the entire city. We have zero tolerance for lawlessness,” she said.

Rekord reached out to the chairperson of the Sunnyside CPF, Sandile Dube, for his take on the mayor’s new efforts as well as to gauge what areas he believes need attention in Sunnyside.

“The CPF remains apolitical and commits to work with any public office bearer elected through democratic processes. We invite the newly elected mayor and her mayoral committee to form part of crime prevention operations that we regularly conduct in Sunnyside and the inner city in general. The mayor should focus on keeping Tshwane Inner-city a crime-free zone through her safety and security MMC, by intensifying the by-law enforcement programmes, particularly after hours. As much as we welcome the progress made on cleaning and clearing the streets of Sunnyside from illegal hawkers, more needs to be done to protect the gains thus far,” he said.

Moya had called on residents to join the metro’s fight and report stores that appear suspicious or are known in the community to be non-compliant with by-laws.

“Our city officials will continue to work every day to improve service delivery. However, we cannot do it alone and partnerships with the private sector will be crucial. I invite residents, businesses and non-governmental organisations to join us as the programme rolls out across all seven regions of Tshwane,” she said.

Moya announced her cabinet would launch imbizos across the metro to introduce the new executive, listen to the concerns of residents and share their plans.

Watch here: https://x.com/i/status/1852297730913083540

The City of Tshwane will not tolerate lawlessness. We were in Sunnyside today to reclaim our city. From cleaning to law enforcement, our residents must feel safe. #ReASpana @CityTshwane pic.twitter.com/aWVENMM4sU

— Dr Nasiphi Moya (@nasiphim) November 1, 2024

Watch here: https://x.com/i/status/1852336545736298709

Tshwane Executive Mayor Cllr Nasiphi Moya, Community Safety MMC Hannes Coetzee and TMPD Chief Yolande Faro at the launch of 100 Days of Action #ReASpana programme in Sunnyside, during which non-compliant shops were closed. #TshwaneAtWork pic.twitter.com/3RZAr0BSS7

— City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) November 1, 2024

Watch here: https://x.com/i/status/1852289228995985701

Deputy mayor Eugene Modise a re mo Tshwane Ra tshwana. Play your part and pay your municipal bill. #ReASpana pic.twitter.com/QsG8HpamJN

— City of Tshwane (@CityTshwane) November 1, 2024

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