Westonaria SOTA: Ten-pillar programme unveiled

Westonaria once again hosted the State of the Town Address on Wednesday (18 March) where a ten-pillar programme was unveiled.

The Speaker, councillor Smuts Monoane welcomed all the dignitaries, special guests, councillors and the mayors of all the sister towns who joined the address. He also called for a moment of silence for the former Minister of Public Service and Administration, Collins Chabane who tragically passed away in a motor vehicle accident on Sunday (15 March).

In her speech, the Westonaria Mayor, councillor Nonkoliso Tundzi referred back to the State of the Nation Address speech given by Premier David Makhura where he focused on the ten-pillar programme of radical transformation, modernization and re-industrialization as strategic road-map to move the Gauteng City Region forward over the next five to fifteen years.

Councillor Tenduzi then gave the ten pillars which constitute the core mandate of the fifth administration:

Radical economic transformation; decisive spatial transformation; accelerating social transformation; transformation of the state and governance; modernization of the economy; modernization of the public service and the state; modernization of human settlements and urban development; modernization of public transport and other infrastructure; re-industrializing Gauteng as our country’s economic hub and taking a lead in Africa’s new industrial revolution.

“These ten pillars constitute a vehicle through which we seek to transform, modernize and re-industrialize Gauteng in order build a seamlessly integrated, socially cohesive, economically inclusive City Region; a leading economy on the African Continent with smart, innovation-driven, knowledge-based and sustainable industries; an accountable, responsive, transparent and clean government as well as an active citizenry. This is our vision,” councillor Tenduzi explained.

She then went on to mention some of the successes the municipality had in terms of the vision and the future planned developments in Bekkersdal, Westonaria and Simunye. One of these projects are the Substance Abuse Support Group in Simunye, the early Childhood Development program and the new refuge removal trucks in Bekkersdal.

Councillor Tenduzi also mentioned the Westonaria Cemetery revamp which will be kicking off soon where they bought the necessary equipment and created 14 new jobs within the community. There are also change rooms and guard stations being constructed to ensure the safety of the community.

“We have done a lot, but there is still a lot more to be done. We are responsible for our actions and now we are taking responsibility. We condemn land grabbers who render us powerless when land is invaded. We want to remind you that the ANC is the ruling party and thus the party in power. Our vision for 2016 is more jobs for the jobless, more homes for the homeless. We want to improve service delivery, we want run a seamless government and do away with fractured financial support.

“I stand here convinced that we can overcome the hardships in our area. We will move forward or not at all. The challenges we face are bigger than all the parties or the government and its only through unity that we can overcome them,” were some of the strong statements made by the mayor.