Mayor Mondli Gungubele touched on many issues and current projects in the metro.
“Our people are still looking for decent work, are struggling with poverty and of course we still need to address the inequalities of the past,” he said. “We must welcome the intervention of President Jacob Zuma who provided much-needed leadership when he announced that there shall be no fee increases at tertiary institutions next year and set up a task team to look into all the issues raised by the students in their recent protests.”
Gungubele stated that no child of this country must be deprived of quality education because of the lack of financial resources.
“We are still reeling from shock at the news of the bodies of numerous illegal miners that remain underneath one of our defunct mines in Benoni. The Department of Minerals’ attempts to retrieve the bodies came to naught and the search had to be called off because of the danger of the operation.
“This makes you wonder how many people have actually perished in these defunct mines and no one knows anything about it.”
Gungubele also congratulated the various role players who brought peace and stability to Etwatwa.
According to Gungubele, the task team led by MMC of Human Settlements, Aubrey Nxumalo, played a crucial role in ensuring that all stakeholders came together to restore stability in the area.
“We must condemn barbaric incidents such as necklacing,” he said and added that he never imagined that 21 years into democracy, such incidents could still happen. “What transpired in Etwatwa goes against our decision to abolish the death sentence, which we took as South Africans because of our high regard of human life.”
On October 24, the Minister for Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa, launched the Ekurhuleni Clean and Green Campaign at Tsakane Stadium with the hope of moving towards a cleaner and greener city.
“A lot of work has been done to improve the cleanliness of our city over the years,” Gungubele said.
Despite this, Gungubele mentioned that illegal dumping still has to be tackled. “For this to happen, we need the co-operation of all stakeholders including our politicians, community leaders, workers and the people of Ekurhuleni.”
The Clean City Programme will assist to re-prioritise work in order to:
- Speed up the roll out of the 240 litre bins.
- Rehabilitate all water bodies.
- Enhance the cleaning of taxi ranks.
- Intensify waste collection, especially at night.
- Vigilance in the management of stormwater and drainage systems.
“In this regard, we shall also be empowering 4 800 people with job opportunities in our quest to keep Ekurhuleni clean, every last Friday of the month is Clean Ekurhuleni Day. On this day we encourage our people to roll up their sleeves and clean various parts of the city.”
In the metro’s quest to fight poverty, they have established a food bank to donate fresh fruits and vegetables to non-profit organisations and needy members of the communities.
“The project, which is based at the Springs Fresh Produce Market, already benefits 1 600 locals and, being a new concept, we are busy monitoring it closely so that we can clean it up of any teething problems and broaden its reach,” Gungubele said.
