A BETTER EKURHULENI OF A RESPONSIVE AND MODERN PUBLIC SERVICE PARTNER THAT FOSTERS CHANGE TOWARDS BUILDING - Inside ...

 
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A BETTER EKURHULENI OF A RESPONSIVE AND MODERN PUBLIC SERVICE PARTNER THAT FOSTERS CHANGE TOWARDS BUILDING - Inside ...
ADVERTORIAL

20YEARS
OF A RESPONSIVE AND MODERN PUBLIC
       SERVICE PARTNER THAT FOSTERS
         CHANGE TOWARDS BUILDING

A BETTER EKURHULENI
   STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS 2020/2021
A BETTER EKURHULENI OF A RESPONSIVE AND MODERN PUBLIC SERVICE PARTNER THAT FOSTERS CHANGE TOWARDS BUILDING - Inside ...
MASINA’S BOLD PLANS TO CREATE A WOLD-CLASS AFRICAN CITY
During his 2020 State of the
City Address (SOCA),
Executive Mayor Mzwandile
Masina unveiled plans to turn
Ekurhuleni – a metro forged
out of a collection of small
mining and industrial towns,
into a historic city of the new
world.

 Masina has promised to pour
 billions of rands into mega
 commercial development projects,
 part of the metro’s Aerotropolis
 Master Plan and the ‘big ideas and
 focused development agenda’.

 The development will see more
 affordable housing in Ekurhuleni, a
 botanical garden, ‘super-highways’,     Executive Mayor Cllr Mzwandile Masina
 Ekurhuleni International Convention
 Centre, a Formula 1 Race Track and
 a Disney Africa.

 This has proven that once again       small mining town. We are going to     opportunities and aid skills
 Masina has a long term view of        build a Casino City of our dreams; a   development,” he said.
 development and was not only          Formula 1 race track, Disney Africa
 interested in pomp and ceremony,      and a university. It’s not just        “Disney Africa in the City of
 and cutting the ribbon at sod         dreams. It’s possible.”                Ekurhuleni will serve as a world-
 turning ceremonies.                                                          class entertainment centre,
                                       Masina said the city should never      drastically increasing tourism
 He dismissed with a shrug critics     stop these ambitious dreams,           domestically, whilst attracting
 who say he is ‘day-dreamer’ who       which were aimed at transforming       tourists from other African
 focused too much on large             Ekurhuleni into one of the most        countries and the rest of the world.
 developments that go to favoured      exciting cities of the world.          The City has the capacity to
 builders and ‘tenderpreneurs’.                                               implement a project of this nature,
                                       “We are inventing the future,” said    as it will leverage off the existing
 “Dreaming is part of life. We live    Masina.                                world-class infrastructure, such as
 through dreams,” said Masina in an                                           the OR Tambo International
 interview with Inside Education,      The irrepressible mayor said the       Airport, the Gautrain, prime
 adding that these projects were       construction of Disney Africa, the     residential estates, glitzy
 part of private and public            Formula 1 race track and the           entertainment venues, mega
 partnerships.                         Ekurhuleni International               shopping malls and recreational
                                       Convention Centre formed part of       facilities.”
 “We are engaging the private          the Aerotropolis Master Plan.
 sector on these projects.                                                    Since Masina took office,
 Ekurhuleni cannot just be a scrap     “Our plan is to grow and develop       development became the
 yard city. No, we will not remain a   the economy, create job                buzzword.
 shanty town of body shops or a

a partnership that works.                                                                                      2.
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He believed that if you create new    long-term development view of          improbable to bring about
 opportunities for developers the      his predecessors, who were better      meaningful material change in the
 private sector will come on board     suited to lead the city in tough       lives of the oppressed majority,
 and invest.                           times by embracing development         who to this day continue to
                                       as a stimulus tool.                    navigate the difficulties informed
 Major construction projects                                                  by that legacy.”
 doubled since he took office,         “This growth is a source both of
 resulting in affordable housing,      challenge and of opportunity.          The municipality recently received
 roads, storm water, real estate and   Above all, it is a stamp of approval   a second unqualified audit from
 other signature infrastructure        on the work that has been done         the Auditor-General, and Masina
 projects.                             over the last 20 years – work that     attributes this to proper
                                       is geared towards building a local     management of finances by
 In his address, Masina welcomed       economy that grows in the hands        Ekurhuleni.
 the support he received from          of the people through sustainable
 President Cyril Ramaphosa and         investments and strategic              He said the city did not incur
 the Department of Higher              partnerships with the private          fruitless and wasteful and
 Education Minister Blade              sector and civil society,” said        unauthorised expenditure in the
 Nzimande in the construction of       Masina.                                2017-18 financial year, and
 the OR Tambo University of                                                   continued to display a
 Science and Innovation, a life-long   “The City of Ekurhuleni that was       commitment to good governance
 dream in the region.                  inherited by our first-ever mayor,     and accountability.
                                       the late Ambassador Bavumile
 “The feasibility study and business   Vilakazi, is not the same City that    “We will continue to cut irregular
 plan is also completed and will be    we find ourselves in. Ambassador       expenditure and maintain a zero-
 handed as a package to the            Vilakazi and his successors,           tolerance approach to fruitless,
 relevant department. We have also     namely Honourable Duma Nkosi,          wasteful and unauthorised
 secured through donation [of] a       Honourable Ntombi Mekgwe and           expenditure,” said Masina.
 43-hectare piece of land, to locate   Honourable Mondli Gungubele,
 the university, from a private        inherited a City confronted with       “Good governance allows the City
 developer around Germiston-           significant challenges arising from    to attract much-needed
 Boksburg area,” he said.              our history of separate                investment, which will allow us to
                                       development . Merging these            grow economic activity in the City
 Reflecting on the journey travelled   historically fragmented locales        of Ekurhuleni. We are committed
 over the past 20 years, Masina said   into one City, the democratic          to implementing the AG's
 the success of Ekurhuleni today       government succeeded in                recommendations expeditiously.
 could not only be credited to him     undermining the legacy of separate     The City remains committed to
 alone, saying it was forged by the    development that had made it           transparency, accountability and
                                                                              clean governance.”

a partnership that works.                                                                                     3.
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PLANNING, DISCIPLINE YIELDS CLEAN FINANCES FOR COE

                                        appropriately presented, without        of the current financial year.
                                        any identified exceptions, and in
                                        compliance with generally               Mashazi says this was achieved by
                                        accepted accounting principles,”        scrapping catering for meetings of
                                        said Masina, to applause all round.     less than four hours and reducing
                                                                                the number and eligibility of those
                                        The City achieved an unqualified        who travels, while encouraging
                                        audit with no unauthorised              local travel to learn best practice.
                                        expenditure, no fruitless and           The City’s Revenue Collection rate
                                        wasteful expenditure while              stood at 91 percent, and Mashazi
   Ekurhuleni City Manager              irregular expenditure has               believes there is room for
     Dr Imogen Mashazi                  decreased from R215 million in the      improvement with the target set
                                        previous financial year to R5           at 93%. The city manager believes
                                        million in the 2018/19 financial        that one area of improvement will
 Demand Management
                                        year.                                   be from Eskom supplied areas
 Planning, strong discipline
 and consequences                                                               such as Ncala in Thokoza where
 management are key                     Masina also announced that the          Eskom has started enforcing
 reasons yet another                    City also managed to spend a            tougher credit control measures to
 unqualified audit for the city         record 94,3% of its Capex budget        enforce payment.
 of Ekurhuleni, says the metro’s        of about R 6 billion against a target
 City Manager Dr Imogen                 of 95%, ahead of Metros such as         Eskom supplied areas, over which
 Mashazi.                               the Cities of Tshwane and Cape          the City has no power to cut
                                        Town and succeeded in spending          services for example, sit at below
 Mashazi also revealed that the         100% of its Urban Sustainable           30% collection compared to 90%
 city also manage to save about R       Development Grant.                      in areas supplied by the City.
 100 million in the first half of the
 current financial year as a result     Mashazi says the secret to the          Finally, Mashazi says the City has
 of new cost cutting measures.          City’s success is Demand                strong consequences management
                                        Management Planning, where              for those who are found to be
 Speaking after the State of the        departments submit plans and            transgressing. In addition to
 City Address by Executive Mayor        have budget allocated. The City         disciplinary measures, serious
 Mzwandile Masina on                    now uses a panel of service             misconduct is referred to the
 Wednesday, Mashazi said the City       providers across building,              Municipal Public Accounts
 has strengthened its capacity by       construction and consultants. The       Committee (MPAC) for
 hiring not just a Chief Financial      city has also done away with            investigation and subsequent
 Officer, Kagiso Lerutla who is a       deviations from tender procedures       referral for criminal investigation
 Chartered Accountant (CA), but         even those allowed by sections of       or prosecution.
 three other CAs in the areas of        the Municipal Financial
 supply chain, financial reporting      Management Act (MFMA)
 and expenditure.
                                        Last year, National Treasury
 In his address, Mayor Masina           announced that cost cutting
 confirmed that the Auditor             measures will also be applicable to
 General once again gave the City       municipalities and proceeded to
 an unqualified audit. “It is the       amend the MFMA to give effect to
 Auditor-General's judgment that        these from July 1 last year.
 our municipality’s financial           Ekurhuleni duly complied and has
 statements are fairly and              saved R 100 million in the first half

a partnership that works.                                                                                            4.
A BETTER EKURHULENI OF A RESPONSIVE AND MODERN PUBLIC SERVICE PARTNER THAT FOSTERS CHANGE TOWARDS BUILDING - Inside ...
a partnership that works.   5.
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HOW CITY OF EKURHULENI IS DEALING WITH CORONAVIRUS
 Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile
 Masina has announced a list
 of containment and
 mitigation measures to
 decrease the spread of the
 COVID-19 pandemic. .
 The city says this comes after
 President Cyril Ramaphosa
 announced a raft of measures to
 curb the spread of the virus and
 declaring the outbreak a ‘National
 State of Disaster on March 15.
                                        introduction of a Work From          • The City will be rolling out a
 Among others the city has
                                        Home protocol for high-risk staff      mass public awareness
 activated a Joint Operations
                                        members and will make an               campaign regarding the COVID-
 Centre to coordinate the metro’s
                                        announcement to this effect in the     19 outbreak;
 response to new infections in
                                        near future;
 Ekurhuleni.
                                                                             • Intensive education workshops
                                        Social distancing                      will be provided to high-risk
 The JOC will also provide daily
                                        The City recognises that globally,     individuals in the City by health
 situational reports on all
                                        social distancing has emerged as       and safety officials;
 developments related to the
                                        one of the most effective methods
 COVID-19 pandemic.
                                        of slowing down the COVID-19         • Daily situation updates will be
                                        pandemic. With this in mind the        sent to City residents via SMS
 According to the office of the
                                        City has decided to enforce the        and digital media platforms;
 mayor, the JOC will also meet with
                                        closure of the following
 various city stakeholders,
                                        Government-owned facilities:         Safety and security
 including representatives from
 ACSA, ESKOM, faith-based                                                    The City is cognisant that criminal
                                        • Community halls                    elements will see the COVID-19
 organizations, traditional leaders
 and taxi associations to get an        • Civic centres                      outbreak as an opportunity to
 update on the virus, which has         • Stadia and sports fields           capitalise on the fear and anxiety
 already infected over 200 South        • Lakes                              of our citizens. The City will be
 Africans.                              • Public swimming pools              adopting a proactive to this effect
                                        • Innovation and business labs       and will be enforcing the following
                                        • Nature reserves                    measures:
 Workplace management
 • The City will be allocating hand     The aforementioned facilities will
                                        be closed until further notice.      • Increased visible policing will be
   sanitising stations at all
                                                                               implemented throughout the
   entrances of “our buildings and
                                        Communications and public              City
   will enforce hygiene protocols
   to all individuals entering and      education
   exiting the buildings. The City is   Empower the residents of             • A zero-tolerance approach will
   in the process of setting up a       Ekurhuleni with knowledge              be taken against public
   dedicated hotline for                surrounding the COVID-19               disobedience and violent acts of
   employees who have any               pandemic is an effective method        xenophobia
   questions regarding COVID-19         of allaying fears and reducing the
   and possible symptoms;               harmful impact of misinformation
                                        The City will introduce the
 • The City is considering the          following measures:

a partnership that works.                                                                                          6.
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#SOCA2020 INFRASTRUCTURE: FROM ROADS AND WATER TO
DISNEY AND BEYOND …
Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile
Masina began his State of the
City address on Wednesday
by highlighting that, “the city
managed to record a 94.3%
Capex spending against the
planned 95% target.” Looking
at the litany of infrastructure
projects the city has
undertaken, it’s easy to
understand why. .
                                        Roads                                   Developments and Real Estate
Electricity And Water                   Recent efforts to beef up the city’s    The City has unlocked 4 900
Since 2016, 34 of the 119 informal      road infrastructure include 30 km of    hectares of land, deemed to be
settlements have been re-blocked        roads for non-motorised transport       dolomitic, and rehabilitating the
and electrified, “resulting in almost   completed; 27 km of newly               land into useable space. In
50 000 people enjoying electricity      constructed roads across the City;      addition, “through township
for the first time,” said Masina.       and 309 km of the existing road         regularisation, we realised over 95
                                        network being rehabilitated.            000 stands to enable
He undertook that by June this                                                  developments, specifically shops
year, a total of 22 000 homes will      In an interview after the speech,       for local businesses,” said Masina.
be connected. This will bring the       MMC for infrastructure services
total number of households              Masele Madihlaba said                   The City has identified 40 “strategic
connected to the grid since year        “Unfortunately, due to Moody’s          land parcels” as part of the Land
2000 to 93 000, he said.                downgrading us, we had to cut the       Release Programme, which have
                                        budget for roads and storm water.”      attracted a capital injection of over
Following the President’s recent                                                R5 billion in development projects.
mandate for municipalities to           Following the M1 bridge collapse
procure their own energy sources,       last year, the city also assessed the   Four Public Private Partnerships
“We will finalise the City              safety of 198 bridges in Ekurhuleni.    have been approved by National
programme to purchase electricity       Out of those assessed “twelve of        Treasury, and the Germiston
from the appointed power                them are at the risk of collapse,”      Parkade and the Civic Tower are
producers,” said Masina. Forty-six      said Madihlaba. “So we are going to     already being pursued.
companies have already been             make sure that that infrastructure is
awarded the tender to generate          also revamped.”                         To stimulate local economic
additional energy.                                                              growth, 30% of the work stemming
                                        The Bus Rapid System is underway,       from the projects will be
Extra water capacity is also on its     with 40 buses having already been       contracted to SMMEs within the
way as pressure on the Integrated       purchased. In his speech, Mayor         City. Investors will be given a two-
Vaal River System mounts, with          Mesina undertook that the nine          year rental holiday or other
Masina saying that the “Aqua-Leap       median stations would be                incentives, said Mayor Mesina.
Programme is on track”. This            completed by June 2020.
involves ploughing R1.2 billion into                                            “So, with the help of the private
constructing 29 reservoirs and          To address its waste removal woes,      sector, we want to modernise
water towers simultaneously. “One       the city has appointed 1172 people      Germiston,” said Madihlaba after
of these will be the biggest in the     to the Clean City Project and will      the speech. The strategic land
continent and among the biggest in      soon advertise a new five-year          parcels are designed to “push the
the world,” said Masina. Once           waste collection project.               private sector to come and invest.
complete, this will add about 50%                                               Because, as government, we can’t
more water storage capacity.                                                    create jobs alone.”

a partnership that works.                                                                                          7.
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Ekurhuleni has the means to       Lastly, the mayor said,
To Disney Africa, Formula 1
                                   pull this off with the airport,   Ekurhuleni is perfectly situated
and Beyond …                       Gautrain and major shopping       for an International Convention
                                   centres nearby.                   Centre, which would bring in
On the back of these practical                                       extra rands and create more
plans, Masina spelled out the      Likewise, the mayor argued        jobs.
city’s dreams for the future.      that a Formula 1 racetrack in
The envisaged big ticket item:     the city could inject about R25   “The City must never stop
Disney Africa. This could          billion into the economy over     these ambitious dreams,
“become a world-class              five years, boost the             which are aimed at
entertainment centre,              automotive sector and offset      transforming our area into one
drastically increasing tourism,”   the approximately R5.4-billion    of the most exciting cities of
said Mayor Masina, adding that     it would take to cost.            the world,” he said.

a partnership that works.                                                                               8.
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CITY OF EKURHULENI PROPOSES SWISS DUAL APPRENTICESHIP
FOR NEW OR TAMBO UNIVERSITY

   Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Mzwandile Masina wants
   the new university to be built in the region not only to
   provide theoretical knowledge to students, but
   practical experience as well.

He announced during his state of       educated and graduates with a            economic effective citizens,” said
the city address that his              four-year degree coupled with four       Masina.
administration has made a formal       years’ work experience.
proposal to Higher Education                                                    MMC for economic development,
Minister Blade Nzimande to             The proposal of the Swiss Dual           Nkosingiphile Xhakaza said he was
consider the Swiss Dual                Apprenticeship states that students’     happy the dream to built the first
Apprenticeship model for the first     time will be divided between             university in the region became
ever university in the region that     theoretical classroom learning and       true.
will be named after former ANC         practical professional training in the
president Oliver Tambo.                work place.                              “ Back then when I was a student at
                                                                                Vaal university, we proposed to
“What we are proposing is the          Masina said the apartheid                the then and late mayor Bavhumile
Swiss Dual Apprenticeship method       education system failed both the         Vilakazi for the university to be
which will greatly form part of the    youth and the economy by                 built [in Ekurhuleni], which didn’t
system. The proposal is to divide      producing poorly educated                happen then, but it is rather
students’ time between theoretical     graduates, most of whom are              exciting that I get to be part of the
classroom learning and practical       unemployable and lack                    team that makes this dream come
professional training in the work      entrepreneurial capacity.                true”, said Xhakaza.
place. This will result in confident
and work-ready graduates who are       Masina revealed that the 43 hector’      Should the Swiss Dual
easily assimilated into the world of   s of land in which the university will   Apprenticeship be allowed by the
work, said Masina.                     be built, was donated to the city by     National Department of Higher
                                       the private sector.                      Education it will allow for new ways
Majority of graduates in the                                                    of teaching, where a student is
country often struggle to find jobs    He thanked president Cyril               educated and graduates with a
because they did not posses the        Ramaphosa for his bold                   four-year degree coupled with four
necessary experience required by       pronouncement to built the               years’ work experience.
most companies.                        University of Science and
                                       Technology in Ekurhuleni.                The new university is proposed to
If this proposal is accepted by                                                 be built between Boksburg and
National Department of Higher          “We have an opportunity to               Germiston.
Education, it will result in the new   collectively redress the historical
ways of teaching where a student is    and current injustices to enable this
                                       generation to be whole and

a partnership that works.                                                                                            9.
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ENTERING THE FINAL STRETCH

Delivering his State of the City
Address (SOCA), Ekurhuleni Executive
Mayor Mzwandile Masina put up a
brave leadership face and outline the
city’s programme of action for the
year ahead. He then unwittingly but
poignantly pointed out that this is his
administration’s penultimate Soca,
with next year being his last. This will
offer an opportunity to truly measure
his administration’s achievement in
office.

“It will be a bittersweet moment           The second area the current           strategic pieces of land will be
when it comes, but until then we           administration has delivered on is    released for commercial
have to get on with work”                  the Aerotropolis Master Plan which    development. About five parcels
Nkosingiphile Xhakaza, the MMC for         has now been approved. This is a      of land have been released thus
finance, economic development and          private sector driven investment      far. Under the programme, the
ICT says of the impending final            programme that seeks to take          city also made available at least
stretch of their tenure.                   advantage of proximity to the         56 agricultural farms comprising
                                           country’s busiest airport. This has   2,747 hectares valued at R120
                                           seen the establishment of R 4, 5      million for the benefit of
Xhakaza has been the driver of the
                                           billion Western Precinct at OR        emerging farmers. These farms
City’s ten point economic plan that
                                           Tambo International and               will be released before the end
has been the centrepiece of this
                                           construction of a cargo Terminal      of the financial year.
administration’s programme. He says
                                           and additional runways. Logistics
the city under mayor Masina’s
                                           companies have also set up shop       In his address, Masina noted
leadership has delivered on all but
one of its ten points, falling short
                                           along R21 on the way to the airport   that “In anticipation of the farm
                                           to create a freight and logistics     release process, we have
only on delivering its localisation
                                           hub.                                  progressed to rename the
targets and creation of black
industrialisation programme. He says                                             Springs market to the Ekurhuleni
on all other targets the current           The City and Gauteng Provincial       Fresh Produce Market, as per
administration has delivered.              government are also steaming          Council approval, and have
                                           ahead with the creation of Special    successfully constructed an
                                           Economic Zone, such as the OR         additional 20,000sqm trading
The first key area has been the
                                           Tambo SEZ, which has seen an          facility to house the Fresh
revitalisation of the manufacturing
                                           investment by food manufacturer       Produce Distribution Centre.”
sector. The City currently supports
                                           In2Food as well as a Jewellery
200 manufacturers together with
                                           Manufacturing Plant currently
Productivity SA to help them
                                           being set up. The Springs Inland
streamline and reconfigure their
                                           port is also being undertaken as R
production process to boost
                                           2,5 billion investment with
productivity. Although the support is
                                           Transnet already confirmed to take
non-financial, it also includes a
                                           up occupation.
special tariff structure for                                                            Mayor Masina and
manufacturers to help them reduce                                                         MMC Xakaza
the cost of electricity as an input.       The City also has a Land Release
                                           programme, through which 40

a partnership that works.                                                                                       10.
The city also intends to use its      supported a cable               “It is about dreams” Xhakaza says
  R 50 billion procurement budget to    manufacturer in the region, but when asked what has motivated
  revive township economies by          Xhakaza feels more can be       him and his government during
  deliberately structuring tenders to   done.                           their term of office. He says he is
  be accessible by smaller players.                                     not referring to his and his fellow
  Automotive Parks have also been       Lastly, the Metro intends to    councillors dream of being re-
  established for use by mechanics      continue investing skills and   elected to continue to govern “but
  and panel beaters. The City also      capability development          dreams of a better life that have
  intends to continue to invest in                                      been sold to people. Those must
  infrastructure in order to attract    especially in scarce technical  be realised, otherwise we have no
  and retain projects such as the       skills. Where 3500 young        business being here.”
  Gibela factory in Nigel.              people are currently
                                        undergoing artisanal training      He and his executive have given
  On localised industrial               and work readiness                 their all.
  production, Xhakaza says the          programmes. Xhakaza would
  shortfall has partly been from,       like to see these trainees not
  awaiting DTI to fully roll out its    only being absorbed by the
  R 1 billion black Industrialist       City, but also by private sector
  programme, which has                  players.

a partnership that works.                                                                                     11.
THE LATE SACP LEADER CHRIS HANI’S HOME TURNED INTO A MUSEUM
  The home of former SA Communist Party general secretary Chris Hani will be turned into a
  museum to celebrate his life, according to Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina.

Hani was gunned down in the             “Other monuments that have been       which attract hundreds of children,
driveway of his home in Boksburg        renamed include the former            and the annual Ekurhuleni Diski
on April 10 1993, a year before         Germiston Theatre, which today        Challenge. We have also invested
South Africa’s first democratic         bears the name of Dumisani            millions in the upgrading of various
elections.                              “Dumi” Masilela, an extraordinary     stadiums including Makhulong,
                                        son of the soil – an artist, a        Tsakane, Huntersfield, Sinaba and
“I am happy to announce that the        musician and a talented sportsman     KwaThema stadiums among others.
Dawn Park home of Chris Hani has        whose young life was cut short in a
now been declared a heritage site,      car hijacking here in our City. The   All these stadiums will soon be
and a family museum depicting the       facility has gone to host a number    renamed and we invite members of
life and times of this stalwart will    of shows since the official           the public to assist us in this
be opened on 10 April,” said            opening,” said Masina.                regard,” said Masina.
Masina.
                                        Ekurhuleni will also host for the      “We do this and many other
“The opening of the museum will         first time a memorial lecture in      activities because we want to
present new tourism and economic        honour of the later Dr Godfrey        reclaim our position as a sporting
opportunities for those living in the   Pitje, a former acting ANC Youth      mecca of the province, which once
neighbourhood, and as a City we         League President and academic         produced stars such as Teenage
invite them to sponsor ideas on         who lived in Daveyton.                Dladla, Scara Ngobese and Pollen
how we can make the facility an                                               Ndlanya among others. We further
even bigger success.”                   Of more interest to note is that Dr   believe that sport can help us free
                                        Godfrey Pitje’s grave has been        our youngsters from the shackles
Masina said the opening of the          nominated for declaration as a        social ills, while also promoting
museum on April 2020 will present       heritage site.                        social cohesion.”
new tourism and economic
opportunities for those living in the   Said Masina: “Turning to Sport,
neighbourhood.                          Heritage, Recreation, Arts, and
                                        Culture (SHRAC), the City has made
Masina also announced that the          great strides to promote the
Germiston Civic Centre will now be      culture of sport in our
known as the OR Tambo                   communities. Some of the key
Government Precinct: Civic Centre.      highlights is the kiddies Olympics

a partnership that works.                                                                                     12.
UNLOCKING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENTREPRENEURS

 The City of Ekurhuleni is
 currently in the process of
 adjudicating over 1000
 applications as it gets ready
 to unleash the next
 generation of entrepreneurs
 through the Ekurhuleni
 Community Enterprise
 Development Fund. This
 emerged from the State of the
 City Address, delivered by
 Mayor Mzwandile Masina at
 the council chambers on
 Wednesday. .

 The R120 million fund was             in turn would trigger economic          distinguish themselves through
 launched in December last year        activity and enable the economy         customer experience from the
 and received applications until the   to be more dynamic, competitive         presentation of their shop, grease
 end of January. Masina says the       and inclusive, said Masina. “This       free paper packaging rather than
 fund has since attracted over 700     would enable the facilitation of job    plastic as well as price. Three years
 applications under Phanda Fund        creation in a sustainable manner        ago, they were nominated for the
 and 316 applications under            at a cost-efficient rate of inclusive   Gauteng government’s Township
 Ximilani. “These applicants stand     economic growth,” The City              Entrepreneurship Award (TEA)
 a chance to receive funding of        expects to disburse funding during      which Mashiane says helped grow
 between R50,000 and R6 million        the second half of the year.            their business through exposure
 to realise their business                                                     that brought them customers from
 ambitions.”                           One of the local people who             outside Kwa Thema.
                                       applied for the city's small
 The Phanda Fund aims to support       business funding is Kwa-Thema           His application to the Phanda Fund
 the development of, small, micro      based entrepreneur Sibongiseni          is for starting a new business
 and medium enterprises,               Mashiane (32), who has been in          venture: a dustbin cleaning service
 including cooperatives and            the food business for almost 20         using specially designed machinery
 informal traders located within       years. From the age of 12, he and       that uses steam or water to wash
 the City of Ekurhuleni while the      his twin brother Bongani assisted       two bins at a time. This is aimed at
 Ximilani Fund is designed to          their mother at her food stall in       residents and businesses as well as
 partner with registered               the busy Nkosi Street. The              those in complexes. They aim to
 organisations, organised business     business grew until, around 2014,       complement the service with a
 formations, associations or           they renovated their home garage        branding service and have a
 chambers of commerce located          to grow the business selling street     funding requirement of just over
 within the City. The other two        food delicacies like Kota, burgers      R 500 000. He hopes the City can
 funds are the Fetola A and B          and chips. His brother has since        help him grow his entrepreneurial
 funds, run in partnership with the    ventured into real estate and           ambition.
 National Empowerment Fund             property development.
 (NEF),
                                       They now thrive in competition as
 “The fund seeks to unlock and         in a stretch of less than a kilometre
 open the economy to non-              in Nkosi Street, they are one of five
 traditional economic players who      food vendors. Mashiane says they

a partnership that works.                                                                                          13.
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