Author: Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe

“George Municipality is ready!” So cheered a group of George Municipality’s jubilant officials who will participate in this weekend’s Garden Route Sport and Recreation Day which will take place on Friday 30 September 2022 at Riversdale.

In a special address by the Executive Mayor of George, Alderman Leon van Wyk on Tuesday afternoon at the George Municipality’s Banquet Hall, the executive mayor wished the officials success in their participation in these games, formerly known as Better Together Games.

More than just over 80 employees of the George Municipality are set to participate in this year’s Garden Route Sport and Recreation Day. In a programme that was released to the participants, indications are that the Western Cape Minister of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, MEC Anroux Marais deliver a keynote address to officially open the sport and recreation day.

The Garden Route Sport and Recreation Day is an annual sports event that is hosted by Sport and Recreation Services of the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport involving government officials in the various districts of the province as well as in the metropole to try their hand at soccer, mini-cricket, volleyball, tug of war, chess, athletics and many other codes at the Better Together Games (BTG) for government officials.

The George Municipality has always been part of the Better Together Games since its inception in 2007 and successfully brought back gold, silver and bronze medallions and gone through to the final games. The George Municipality has last attended the finals known as the Corporate Games in 2019 and won gold in both Rugby cricket and dominoes.

“Did you exercise, are you fit?” Ald van Wyk quipped. “Go and make us proud, and please be cautious and we do not want to hear of any injuries, go out there and enjoy yourselves,” he said. In response to the mayor’s message, the group of officials shouted with joy said, “We are ready!”, assuring the Executive Mayor and the city of George that they will make the city proud.

Ends.

The Municipal Manager of the George Municipality, Dr Michele Gratz commended the municipality’s Chief Audit, Jean-Pierre Rossouw for his re-election as the Chairperson of the Western Cape Local Government Chief Audit Executive (CAE) Forum recently.

 “We are proud to have an official of Mr Rossouw’s calibre and we wish him well with the task ahead of him for the new term,” said Dr Gratz.

Rossouw shared the news of his re-election on his LinkedIn account on Tuesday, 18 September 2022: “I’m truly honoured to have been re-elected as the Chairperson of the Western Cape Local Government Chief Audit Executive (CAE) Forum for a second term. I’m looking forward to continuing to add value to the municipal internal audit environment,” Rossouw said.

“Today we held yet another successful CAE Forum. Attendees included delegates from National Treasury, Western Cape Provincial Treasury, the IIASA, invited guests and presenters, as well the CAEs and CROs from municipalities throughout the Western Cape Province. Covering topics such as the NT FMCMM; AC induction and training; IIASA Feedback; Importance of MFMA Circular 65.”  

“We also had a very interesting knowledge-sharing session on the practical implementation of Agile auditing. I am thoroughly enjoying my role as Chairperson of such a vibrant forum,” he concluded.

Ends.

As South Africans, we have learnt to be resilient and shown the ability to adapt to circumstances. The recent experiences of enduring Stages 5 and 6 of load shedding require us all to make adaptations to how we manage our lives. I was recently privileged to attend an Energy Summit where the Eskom CEO, Andre de Ruyter spoke about the power station fleet that had been operated at maximum capacity for too long. This means that maintenance needs to be undertaken to avoid complete breakdowns. New generating capacity will have to be built over the next 15 years.

On an ongoing basis the municipality is examining a range of projects to mitigate the risks in supplying electricity to our customer base:

• We have installed 25 generators at our critical installations ranging from water and waste-water treatment works, and critical pump stations to buildings. These generators need to be constantly re-fuelled with diesel as we attempt to keep operations going under conditions where Eskom is unable to provide electricity for up to eight hours per day.
• We are concerned about key businesses and installations that are large employers, energy-intensive users or who need to operate 24/7. We are searching for solutions that can assist them.
• We are progressing with plans to implement renewable energy plants that will reduce bulk purchases from Eskom to avoid implementation of some load shedding stages.

Our customers can assist in this adaptation process by “shifting their loads” to reduce the maximum electricity capacity that they use through an awareness of not operating too many high-capacity appliances at the same time. The objective is to reduce peaks experienced in the early morning and evening. Success in this adaptation will strengthen our negotiations with Eskom to start avoiding painful load shedding Stages.

We have recently undertaken road-building activity on some of our Provincial roads and Go George routes. We receive grants equivalent to 80% of the project cost on provincial roads that requires spending within defined timelines. Fortunately, the Langenhoven Road and Market Street projects are approaching completion. Work will shortly also be undertaken on York Street. We appreciate how our citizens have adapted their travel routines to ensure the completion of these projects.

Communication is currently underway to appeal to our citizens living close to the forest and mountains to provide advice on co-existence with baboons who periodically enter living areas in search of food. The 2018 George Fire severely damaged their habitat and food sources. Scientific advice is that humans make small adaptations to their routines to improve co-existence.

We express our gratitude to our citizens for their patience in dealing with the adaptations they have been making as we work together building a well-run city.

Ald Leon van Wyk

Executive Mayor of George

Five officials from the George Municipality received training in creative filmmaking on the 13^th and 14^th of September 2022 at the George Tourism office to enhance local tourism marketing strategies. Local filmmaking experts conducted the training as part of a service level agreement with the Garden Route Film Commission.

According to the George Tourism manager, Joan Shaw, the objective of the training which is intended for Municipal staff is to have a better understanding of the film industry, and what is required, as film productions are a target market for Tourism and Economic Development. “As part of the tourism marketing strategy, we want to empower staff that work with social media and projects, and general photography, which requires filming skills to improve the quality of their shoots.  We also encourage creativity and keeping up with trends in this fast-paced industry to keep relevant and get noticed,” Shaw said.

Three of the five trainees were officials from the Tourism office and two from the office of the municipal manager and the communication department, and they all never had experience in filmmaking. One of the trainees, Aphiwe Jack from the office of the municipal manager, said: “The film training was highly informative and fun at the same time. I learnt about the different types of gadgets being used in the film industry, from cameras, lenses, and stabilizers to lights and video editing software. Our team was amazing, thanks to all of them for making it such a wonderful experience for me, and finally, a huge thanks to the facilitators for such a splendid job showing us all the hard work it takes to become professionals in the film industry,” Jack added.

The training was conducted by Letitia Cunningham (Director Garden Route Film Commission), Megan Cunningham a multi-creative and a youth developer and Calvin Claassen an independent content creator and designer in the film industry. To add lustre to the training which included the outdoor taking of video shots, Pamela Pelser, a line dance choreographer from Step Together Line Dance School introduced a few dance moves to the trainees who responded fluently, and smoothly to the movements.

Ends.

Caption:

From left: Megan Cunningham (Facilitator), Letitia Cunningham (Facilitator), Lindi Harley (Tourism Officer – Membership), Aphiwe Jack (receptionist – office of the Municipal Manager), Luthando Ndende (Tourism Intern), Heloine America (Tourism Officer), Joan Shaw (Tourism Manager), Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe (Senior Communication & Intergovernmental Relations Officer), and in front Calvin Claassen (Facilitator).

Friday, 16 September 2022

12^TH FUNDA MZANTSI CHAMPIONSHIP

The National Library of South Africa (NLSA), in conjunction with the Department of Correctional Services and George Municipality is proud to host the 12^th Funda Mzantsi Championship (FMC).

FMC is a reading competition for book clubs with the objective of stimulating and encouraging a reading culture among South Africans. The Championship has been held on an annual basis from 2010 until 2019.  In 2020, the Competition was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021, FMC was hosted in a hybrid format.  This year, FMC will be held in George, in the Western Cape Province from 3 to 7 October 2022.

In preparation for the Competition, book clubs are required to read selected books from a specific list, including titles from the NLSA’s Reprint of South African Classics project.  Furthermore, participants are assessed in four categories – impromptu reading, debating, spelling bee and book reviewing in all official South African languages.  The much-acclaimed book “The Yearning” by Mohale Mashigo is expected to be reviewed by participants in this year’s competition.

The National Library of South Africa takes pride in contributing toward Outcome 14 of the National Development Plan which deals with Nation Building and Social Cohesion. Through the Funda Mzantsi Championship, the NLSA brings together minds – both young and old, breaking the racial, gender and social status boundaries, in pursuit of a common goal.

The NLSA’s Executive Director responsible for Core Programmes will officiate the opening ceremony on 3 October and the National Librarian and CEO, Mr Kepi Madumo will grace the closing ceremony on 5 October 2022.

Members of the media are invited to cover the Championship as follows:

ENDS

Issued by the National Library of South Africa

Notes to the Editor

The National Library of South Africa (NLSA) is the custodian and provider of the nation’s key knowledge resources. The NLSA is mandated by the National Library of South Africa Act to collect and preserve published documents and to make them accessible, thereby ensuring that knowledge is preserved for posterity and that information is available to all.

www.nlsa.ac.za