| Cape Town Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato commends team effort at Uitsig clean-up | Cape Town Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato was out in Uitsig this morning, which was the next stop in his clean-up campaign. | <p>‘Today, 14 June 2019, was the sixth stop of my clean-up campaign against grime, which is aimed at educating the public about keeping our communities clean and reporting illegal dumping to enhance the work done by the city’s Solid Waste Department. The staff from our Solid Waste Department do their best to keep areas clean with regular refuse removal, but the responsibility not to litter is on residents,’ said Executive Mayor Dan Plato.</p>
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<p>The 'Keep Cape Town Clean’ campaign was launched in March this year with the intention of both cleaning up our beautiful city, and at the same time educating our residents about the important role they play in keeping our city clean.</p><p>‘While City officials carry out their cleaning duties on a daily basis, we want to encourage our communities to be proud of where they live and ensure that their neighbourhoods stay clean. The City is pleased that as a result of this initiative, many residents and organisations have organised their own clean-ups at beaches, rivers and many other locations.<br></p><p>‘In my January adjustment budget, I allocated R115 million to help tackle grime and it has had the desired result. We now need to keep the momentum going and continue to drive the message of keeping our neighbourhoods clean,’ added Executive Mayor Plato.</p><p>‘Each and every time we visit an area to roll-up our sleeves and conduct a clean-up, I am heartened by the enthusiasm demonstrated by residents who join in the effort,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Waste, Councillor Xanthea Limberg.</p><p>‘It’s clear that residents want to restore beauty and cleanliness to their neighbourhoods, and are prepared to work together with the City to achieve this goal. The only way that lasting change will be seen is through teamwork.</p>
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<p>‘We will soon be kicking-off the second component of this campaign, which will involve revisiting the spaces we have cleaned-up and see how they have been maintained. I hope to see that they have been prevented from becoming littered and unhealthy again,’ added Cllr Limberg.<br></p><p>Illegal dumping is harmful and against the law. Vehicles used in illegal dumping can be confiscated and a release fee of nearly R16 000 will be charged, over-and-above the fines issued for dumping. To report illegal dumping, residents are urged to call the City’s Call Centre on
<a><em>0860 103 089</em></a>.</p><p>We call on our residents to come out and support the campaign. #KeepCapeTownClean!</p><p>End</p>
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| Gugulethu fire station closed again due to protests | Statement by Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith. | <p>We are disgusted by the violent attack on community facilities in Gugulethu overnight. </p><p>Vandals set alight a car and a carport at the Fezeka Municipal Office next to the fire station.</p><p>Firefighters extinguished the fire, but soon became targets themselves, when the group started hurling stones at their building, causing damage to the bay doors.</p><p>The City’s Chief Fire Officer has suspended operations at the Gugulethu Fire Station as a result.</p><p>These facilities serve the community and an attack on it, is a direct attack on the community.</p><p>The thugs behind the destruction will argue that their actions were done in protest, but it is immaterial, because there can be no justification for the ongoing damage and vandalism of City infrastructure.</p><p>These scenes are becoming all too common and it is completely unacceptable.</p><p>Less than a year ago, the Gugulethu Fire Station was targeted in similar fashion, resulting in a near six-month closure to repair damages; traumatized staff and a community deprived of an essential service.</p><p>Following this latest incident, the staff have again been redeployed to other fire stations amid safety concerns and until the situation calms down.</p><p>What this means is that any request for a firefighting response in Gugulethu and surrounds will take far longer, as there are no resources operating from the local fire station until further notice.</p><p>The City calls on the community to help identify the thugs who are robbing them of this essential service.</p><p>We are aware that numerous arrests were made in relation to this protest and I have requested that the Safety and Security Investigative Unit liaises with the South African Police Service, to convey the message that the City will oppose bail for those arrested.</p><p>The Fire and Rescue Service continually delivers good service to the communities, yet there are those who choose to attack our fire stations or staff, for reasons which have nothing to do with them.</p><p>Unless this sickening trend comes to a halt, it will become increasingly difficult for our staff to do their jobs.</p><p>They are here to protect lives and not to be subjected to such unfair and criminal acts.</p><p><strong>End</strong><br></p> | 2019-06-13T22:00:00Z | | | | | | | 1 | | | |
| Code 8 driver training programme rolls into Wesbank | The City of Cape Town has rolled-out the Code 8 driver training programme in the Wesbank area. | <p>The training programme helps individuals to focus on their goal of obtaining a drivers licence and not the expenses, by covering the cost to book their test dates, have their photographs taken for the testing appointment, driving lessons to ensure their preparedness for the test, and hiring of a vehicle for the day of the driver’s test. Approximately 23 beneficiaries from in and around the Wesbank area stand to benefit from this programme.</p><p>‘This project is a prime example of our commitment to deliver services and empower our residents, especially young people. The project has helped to bring hope to unskilled individuals as most of them do not have a formal qualification, or the necessary skills to seek employment,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.</p><p>Two young participants in the City’s Code 8 driver training programme are now in pole position, after having obtained their drivers licences recently. The two
beneficiaries, 21-year old Aneeqa Kiel, and 28-year old Lucian Jacobs, were part of the first intake in Oceanview. They joined the group in Wesbank, overjoyed with their success and are looking forward to reaping the benefits of having a drivers licence. </p><p>‘We are already seeing positive yields from this programme. I would like to congratulate Aneeqa and Lucian on obtaining their drivers licence. As we celebrate Youth Month, their success should serve as a source of inspiration to other young people. I wish them the best of luck but caution them to obey the rules of the road. </p><p>To deliver on our commitment to build an opportunity city we need to walk the talk now, and through this project we are giving individuals a hand-up to access a basic skill, which will in turn assist them to become more marketable for employment.</p><p>This is one of the many projects being implemented by the Mayor’s Urban Regeneration Programme (MURP) to reverse the socio economic challenges, by empowering individuals, one driver at a time. The challenges faced by communities are brought about by poverty, high rates of unemployment and crime in the areas.</p><p>‘When this project was put together, we looked at it through the eyes of our beneficiaries to determine what they would need, from start to finish. It would’ve been pointless to provide financial assistance to only cover a portion of the costs. What would happen to the individual thereafter, as many cannot afford to pay for a driving lesson, let alone all the months of lessons needed to be ‘road-ready’ for their test. Therefore, this project will play a critical role in assisting the individual learner driver holistically to achieve their driver’s license,’ said Alderman Twigg.</p><p>The project will be rolled-out further to other areas in the coming months.</p><p>Youth interested in participating in the programme can contact their Ward Councillor for more details.</p><p><strong>End</strong></p>
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| City engages youth through arts and culture | The Youth Month event was a mix of song, dance and entertainment in the heart of Langa’s cultural precinct. | <p>The City of Cape Town’s Arts and Culture Department hosted hundreds of young people today for a Youth Month celebration event in Langa.</p><p>The Cultural Precinct in Washington Street was abuzz with a host of activities centred around arts, culture and creativity.</p><p>Participants from schools and youth clubs across the city were exposed to puppet shows, theatre pieces and art, as well as several traditional dance showcases and even a dance competition.</p><p>The event also featured a social dialogue forum, focusing on issues that affect young people and the possible solutions to those challenges.</p><p>Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato, Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Zahid Badroodien and members of the Junior City Council were part of the engagement.</p><p>‘Youth are the lifeblood of the city, but they still face many socio-economic issues that hamper their development and keep them in the vulnerable group in our society. The City, along with other spheres of government, has a number of programmes in place to advance youth development and help overcome the challenges such as unemployment, violence, crime and substance abuse. But young people need to be a part of the process, otherwise, we will not make meaningful gains,’ said Alderman Plato.</p><p>The City of Cape Town introduced its Transversal Youth Development Strategy in 2015, to improve the coordination of youth programmes across a number of departments, with a single goal: providing integrated services, opportunities and support for young people to become resilient, healthy, independent, responsible, economically active change agents.</p><p>‘Our basket of services is diverse and wide-ranging, from skills and capacity development, to job opportunities and bursaries, education and awareness and even sports and recreation activities. In one of the most recent additions, our City clinics have started rolling out dedicated resources to young people to improve their access to primary healthcare. We are on a constant drive to finesse our offering, and it is good to get first-hand feedback from our customers, which in this case, are our young people,’ said Councillor Badroodien.</p><p>The Youth Month celebration was just the latest example of how arts can be used to draw in young people. </p><p>In February this year, the City’s Creative Art Programme run by the Cultural Spaces Unit within the Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department was incorporated into the Learning Support Programme at two primary schools in Athlone.</p><p>A group of learners who had been identified as experiencing learning difficulties were enrolled in the programme to stimulate creativity and boost their self-esteem, while learning specific skills that promote improved academic performance.</p><p>‘Youth month throws into the spotlight the many challenges that exist. However, it is also a celebration of youth excellence, because there are so many young people out there who are making a difference, whether on their own steam or with the help of the many youth-focused initiatives in both the public and private sector. It is also an opportunity for us as an administration to take stock of our efforts and the many young people who have succeeded because of it, and it invigorates us to do even more going forward,’ added Councillor Badroodien.</p><p><strong>End</strong></p>
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