2012/08-August 2012 - City of uMhlathuze

Municipality celebrates Mandela Day
magnificently
Councillors and officials of the City of uMhlathuze once again
got into the true spirit of Mandela Day by undertaking community
service across the City to celebrate the ninety-fourth birthday
of our first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela.
The main event of the day took place in rural eNseleni where
a substantial municipal contingent got to work at a community
crëche where they undertook structural improvements, including
leveling the land, building entrance steps, fitting doors and putting
glass into window frames, fixing roof leaks, painting interior and
exterior walls as well as improving the playground area with
trees and tyres.
The children enjoyed face-painting and were also given
stationery packs and small tables and chairs for their classrooms.
Mayor Elphas Mbatha recognised Mr Mandela as a global icon
and said that the Municipality was proud to celebrate his birthday
by improving the lives of residents, particularly those of young
children. He added that this would not be a once-off project, but
would be adopted by the City which would undertake further
improvements in the future.
Municipal Manager, Dr Nhlanhla Sibeko said: “We have
always understood and felt the need to become more involved
in our community at a grassroots level and we aim to live the
spirit of Mandela Day every day. Our Deputy Municipal Managers
each have their own team comprising of randomly selected
members of the management team, who are responsible for a
different portion of the City. This responsibility involves visiting
these areas and taking note of issues that need addressing
such as missing manhole covers, overgrown public spaces
among others, as well as leading social responsibility projects
in these areas.”
To this end each Deputy Municipal Managers and their team
undertook various projects in their respective areas. Chief
Financial Officer, Mr Mxolisi Kunene and his team tidied the
grounds of the Ngwelezane Place of Safety where they used
brush-cutters to clear overgrown areas and revamped the
children’s play area by fixing the swings and jungle gym, painting
the equipment in colourful primary colours and erecting
basketball/netball hoops.
Deputy Municipal Manager of Infrastructure and Technical
Services, Mr Sifiso Mdakane and his team headed to Richards
Bay Taxi City where they cleaned up litter and cleared the verges.
Deputy Municipal Manager of Corporate Services, Mbali
Ndlovu and her team headed to Mzingazi Village to help a
mother and her young twins. The twins had been born in January
but their mother was ill and had to stay in hospital. Manager:
Community Services and Health, Ziphi Dladla heard about the
twins from the City Clinic and requested support from her friends
in the way of baby clothes.
(Mrs Ndlovu and her team took this support a step further on
Mandela Day by working at their home to establish a vegetable
garden and a compost pit for household waste.
6
Top and below: The Ngwelezane Place of Safety is a neater and
more colourful place thanks to the efforts of Chief Financial
Officer, Mxolisi Kunene and his team of hard workers.
Above and right: Deputy
Municipal Manager of Corporate
Services and her team are joined
by the Manager of Community
Services and Health, Ziphi Dladla
at Mzingazi where they put their
67 minutes to help a young
mother and her twin daughters.