WATCH: South Coast is looking forward to a bright 2017
The Umtentweni community received praise from all quarters for making a difference.
MUNICIPAL manager Max Mbili is calling for all communities to join hands with Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) to keep the coast thriving.
“We can’t succeed alone,” he said, using a public-private partnership with Tweni ratepayers as an example that works.
Mr Mbili, together with the Mayor Cynthia Mqwebu, met with members of the Tweni Ratepayers’ Forum and their sponsors who have been working together in a strategic public-private partnership to revamp the beachfront.
This included the extension of the car park, just in time for the holiday season. It has to be mentioned that the team did it in a record time of nine days from start to finish.
The officials also heard about the CCTV camera system which they have installed in various parts of Tweni to curb crime and keep the area clean and tourist-friendly.
Leila Edwards of Tweni’s Crime Watch said there are plans in the pipeline to have Tweni’s cameras monitored by the municipality’s Community Safety Department.
She added that new beach bylaws signs will be erected in the parking lot this week.
“The signs are going up to remind everyone of the beach bylaws, which will be policed by the members of Law Enforcement. The erection of ‘no entry’ signs for buses and minibuses is because the lower parking areas become very congested so the bigger vehicles need to be restricted to the top parking bays.”
Speaking to the Herald, Mr Mbili praised the Tweni community for what they had done on their own to improve their suburb.
He said they were going to ‘steal Tweni’s camera initiative’ as the municipality hasn’t yet covered all strategic areas in terms of CCTV cameras, but in the interim they would install cameras, especially along Margate beachfront and Marine Drive, from July next year to assist in reducing criminal activity in these areas.
Mr Mbili said the municipality is developing a 2036 vision (20-year plan) and, in early February or March 2017, they would convene an inclusive economic, growth and infrastructure indaba at which all key stakeholders will be invited to discuss how best we can to turn the area around..
We are going to invite all communities to join hands with us. Surely 2017 will be a better year for us – Max Mbili
Councillor Mqwebu said tourists will see how clean the town is, thanks to both the municipality and the community. She thanked everyone who gave in the spirit of ‘Ubuntu’ (human kindness) and encouraged everyone to keep that love, when they light those candles this Christmas, inside their communities.
Meanwhile, there is lots happening in the leafy suburb:
* Thanks must be given to Tweni’s hardworking ‘gardening team’ for revamping the gardens at the main traffic light.
Calvin Fourie and Liz Foster and their staff from Muddy Boots Nursery, together with residents, have been been hard at work digging out the ‘hidden’ rock display, cutting, cleaning and rehabilitating the intersection.
The original garden was done by Ilonka and Larry Larraman 30 years ago but it had subsequently become extremely overgrown.
* Then a major crisis in holiday season at Tweni beach was narrowly averted by the quick thinking of Anton Rossouw and the municipality’s facilities management team, along with assistance from Councillor Leon Garbarde. Mike Davies, secretary of the Ratepayers’ Association, said the toilets at the beach were backing up and had to be locked at great inconvenience to visitors.
However, Drain Experts were the only team that had the pipework to reach the septic tank which was located some 50m from the car park. They emptied the septic tank by midday on Tuesday and, much to the relief of the visitors, the toilets could be used again.
* Visitors to Tweni beach are asked to leave only their footprints behind.
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