Remembering the dead in Heritage month
This month’s council meeting started a little differently in the wake of the end of Heritage Month with a wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the lives of council members who have died.
Mayor Mondi Gungubele spoke about this year’s Heritage Day theme of ‘Lest we forget our Heritage’, “Heritage Month allows us to reflect on who we are and where we come from as a nation, while teaching us to embrace the various cultures that exist around us.”
The mayor went on to speak about the still prevalent unemployment rate of Ekurhuleni residents.
“The economy has taken a knock over the years. With our globally competitive environment wherein our city’s economy operates in view of its manufacturing capability, and with high-value exports and the Aerotropolis programme which requires large-scale investments, we cannot afford to be oblivious to the reality that confronts our regional economy and its citizenry.”
Gungubele said of the three metros in Gauteng, the Ekurhuleni economy has to confront more socioeconomic challenges which are attributed to several internal and external factors like the global economic meltdown, skills shortages and unemployment.
The mayor took the time to inform the council of the improvement of the call centres. “For the past few months we have been putting a lot of effort into revamping this facility.”
He said the call centre in Bedfordview has been expanded to accommodate 50 more seats for call takers and dispatchers. He also said a Twitter handle for the call centre has been created to enable easier and more effective communication with the communities.
The mayor made mention of the Ekurhuleni Melting Pot National Choral Festival which will take place on October 19 at Carnival City.
“It will feature the top 10 South African Choirs battling it out for prize money to the value of R250 000. “This is a first in the history of Choral Music in this country, and one of the best ways to remind ourselves of this (Oliver Tambo) philanthropist. The choirs will sing mainly the struggle songs that were so dear to the heart of OR Tambo,” said Gungubele.
He ended his address to the council with a bit about educating the communities about pool and swimming safety as the summer approaches.
The DA disagreed with the improvement of the call centre, saying that residents of the communities are battling to get through to the centre. DA Caucus leader Shelley Loe said on many occasions, the people working at the call centre are disinterested and often lack proper English skills and this should be addressed.
A representative from the Disaster and Emergency Management Services Department was present at the meeting and made mention of the tornado that ripped through Duduza in 2011.
“We are sad to learn that about 250 houses are still not repaired due to a lack of budget,” said a representative of the department.
“We would like to recommend to the oversight committee that there be a bigger budget for disaster management.”
This recommendation was agreed to by all councillors present at the meeting.
