President Zuma to celebrate World Teachers Day by re-opening school in Mbizana

President Jacob Zuma will mark World Teachers Day at Redoubt, Mbizana in the Eastern Cape on Saturday, 5 October, where he will open and hand over Ethridge Junior Secondary School to the community.

The school has been built by Anglo American Platinum as part of compliance with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act’s Social and Labour Plan. The project was facilitated by the Department of Mineral Resources.

Ethridge Junior Secondary School was identified as one of the projects that would contribute towards rural development in one of the labour sending areas in the Eastern Cape. 

Though this project was part of the Social and Labour Plan commitments of Anglo American Platinum and commissioned in November 2011, it has been fast-tracked as part of the efforts to implement the commitments entered into by government and social partners in the High Level Dialogue on the Economy convened and Chaired by President Zuma on October 17, 2012, also known as the Presidential Package for mining towns.

The provision of the school directly responds to commitments in the Presidential Package for the development of a new partnership between social partners for the development of sustainable human settlements in mining towns, labour sending areas and all communities.

The total expenditure of the project is R 45 732 773. 84. The school has state of the art facilities including:

·          18 Class rooms;

·          Sports Ground;

·          Computer Laboratory;

·          Science Laboratory; and

·          Library

·        A Lilliput Sewer Treatment Plant which processes sewerage and releases grey water for irrigation;

·          A borehole and chlorination providing the learners with potable water;

·          A community hall will be constructed as part of the Phase 2 of the project.

Ethridge JSS was established in the nineteenth century by the Anglican Church missionaries. The school had become dilapidated with old infrastructure and a lack of adequate equipment to provide a good enabling learning environment. The newly constructed school will cater for 1000 pupils from Grade R to Grade 9.

The school will be handed over to the Eastern Cape Provincial Government and the community by the President.

Extra Short Documentary Project shot entirely on cellphone

Watch this extra short, 1 minute documentary filmed entirely on a Samsung Omnia Pro B7330 at the Creative Market in Port Elizabeth. No bounds to filmmaking... 

Minister Manuel to engage with the youth of Port Elizabeth on the National Development Plan

Minister in the Presidency responsible for National Planning Trevor Manuel will on Saturday, 5 October 2013, engage with the youth of Port Elizabeth in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province on the National Development Plan (NDP).

Since the tabling of the NDP, the Youth formations have synthesised it and drafted a set of proposals to the National Planning Commission (NPC) through the Youth Accord.

This engagement will afford the NPC a chance to engage with the proposals and to widen the debate with the youth on the NDP. The engagement will also offer an opportunity for a dialogue on the state of the country.  

                                                

The Minister’s speech and the panel discussion will be streamed live on Google Hangout (event name – PE Young Engagement on the NDP).

Members of the media are invited as follows:

Time                :           9h00 - 14h00

Venue             :           Nangoza Jebe Hall, New Brighton (previously known as Centenary Hall)

Combatting Crime, Drug Abuse And Gangsterism In The Northen Areas Is Everybody's Business

Combatting crime, drug abuse and gangsterism in the Northen Areas of the Nelson Mandela Bay is everybody's business.

That was a clear message from Deputy Minister of Police Maggie Sotyu and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor, Benson Fihla when they addressed community members in Chatty Community Hall on Tuesday (1 October 2013).

The leadership visited the Nelson Mandela Bay as part of their engagements with the police, community policing forums, street committees and members of the community about social, policing and crime related challenges facing the Northen Areas.  

MEC for Safety and Liaison Helen Sauls-August, MEC for Social Development Pemmy Majodina and Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Binta were also part of the visit.

The community meeting was called for the members of the public to express their concerns and share their experiences about drugs abuse, crime, gangsterism in their communities.

They were also given an opportunity to suggest to both the police and political leadership It was also for the leadership to share with the community intervention measures that are being done to deal with the challenges experienced. The area has for the past 15 years has experienced challenges of gangsterism, drug trafficking and abuse and violence towards foreign nationals.

Accompanied by Nelson Mandela Bay South African Police cluster commanders the delegation also visited areas that are affected by gangsterism and drug abuse in the Northern Areas.

Speaking at the packed community hall, Executive Mayor Benson Fihla called on the people of the Northern Areas to take back their City from criminal elements. “We should work hard together in making a difference, it is the duty of all of us here to fight crime,” said Executive Mayor Fihla. 

He said it was impossible for government alone to succeed in fighting the problems that are being experienced in the areas of Chatty, Gelvandale, Helenvale, Bethelsdorp and the surrounding areas. "This battle can be defeated if we can all partner to take back our streets and playing parks to be places that are suitable for the upbringing of our children," he said.

Deputy Minister of Police Maggie Sotyu said: “I will make sure that I work with Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to put in place satellite police stations as this visit has revealed the need." However Sotyu said satellite police stations alone will not be an answer to all the problems facing the area.

She said vigilance within the community on the issues affecting them was the first step.

“We cannot be sitting and waiting while our communities are being destroyed by drugs, we need to take responsibility as parents, children and as a community as a whole,” said Deputy Minister Sotyu also promised that it will not be the last time that her department visits the area until all the challenges have been solved.

Attack And Looting Of Somalian Nationals And Shops Is An Act Of Criminality: Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality

Issued on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor, Councillor Benson Fihla and the entire Council by Communications and Media Management Office.

On behalf of the peace loving and friendly people of Nelson Mandela Bay, I would like express my disappointment and disgust at the acts of criminality that have been seen across the City. The attacks and looting of the Somalian nationals shops has put a shame on the people of the City, who have for the past years made a name as one of the friendliest in the world.

We want to put it straight and clear, these incidents are criminal, cowardly, irresponsible and inexcusable to say the least.

An alleged act of criminality by a Somalian national can never justify the looting and attack of innocent people who are an integral part of our communities.

South Africa is a Constitutional Democratic country, rule of law and the respect of human Rights is core to our democracy as a nation.  

We can never allow people to take the law into their own hands. We condemn these acts in the strongest possible terms. We call upon the law enforcement agencies to act strongly without hesitation to those who are found to be responsible for this chaos.

We also send our deepest condolences to the family of the boy who was killed in the initial incident that led to the incidents that we have seen across the city.

As the leadership of the Nelson Mandela Bay we will be visiting the family of the deceased young man to give support and share their pain.

We will also be visiting the affected Somalian nationals in different areas of the City. We call upon the people of Nelson Mandela Bay to reclaim their City from these criminal elements. Let us work together to bring normality and peace.

Working together we can build better communities.

Port Elizabeth police arrest 10 people for looting Somali-owned shops

At least 10 people are reported to have been arrested by Port Elizabeth police after the looting and burning of Somali-owned shops. More than 10 shops in KwaZakhele and New Brighton, two of Port Elizabeth’s biggest townships, were attacked.

The attacks followed the arrest of a Somali man after he allegedly shot and killed a local 30-year-old man outside a shop in New Brighton on Saturday evening.

The man was allegedly involved in an altercation with a shop owner over air time.

The ANC in the Eastern Cape urged police to stop the violence on Monday.

“Any type of violence, including looting of shops owned by Somali nationals is illegal, wrong and has no place in South Africa,” ANC provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane said in a statement.

“The SA Police Service [SAPS] members are the first and last line of defence for our communities, and we call on them to use the law and public order policing techniques to stop this wave of violence.”

Mabuyane said the ANC in the province was calling on residents in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.

“Somali nationals must also stop using violence to resolve challenges they face but must put their trust in the police to deal with any challenge.

“Violence will not help us deal with any situation but will make matters worse for our people,” he said.

Police spokesperson Miranda Mills said two shops were looted and burnt in Ntintili street, and a car parked outside was set alight.

“According to a witness there was an argument between the suspect and the victim. The [police] arrested the suspect and the firearm used... was recovered,” said Mills.

The man was expected to appear in court soon.

Several people have been arrested in connection with the looting incidents and are also due to appear in court on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, police had since moved some foreign nationals out of the area more police officers had been deployed to patrol the area.

2013 National Heritage Month: Reclaiming, Restoring And Celebrating Our Living Heritage

Taking a tune from the 2013 National Heritage Month theme, "reclaiming, restoring and celebrating our living heritage" the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality partnered with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan university Anthropology Students and the youth of Uitenhage to repair and clean the Langa Memorial Site in Uitenhage, Kwalanga on Wednesday (11 September 2013).

The project was a start of a number of projects that the municipality will embark on during the Heritage Month. A huge enthusiasm was displayed as the students and the youth rolled their sleeves to work on the historic site. 

The aim of the repairs and cleaning was to mobilise youth to work with the municipality to clean and preserve the country’s National Heritage sites. It was also to instil pride within our communities to take care of our rich heritage especially as the country celebrates National Heritage Month.

The Langa Memorial is one of the Heritage Sites around the City that have experienced vandalism. Present and leading the repairs and cleaning was Ward 50 Councillor Zolani Ncwadi.

Vuyo Dlamini, a first year Tourism student at NMMU expressed his desire for further developments to be made so that South Africans can be taught of their history. His understanding or interpretation of heritage is that it is memorial sites like the Langa Memorial which are “preserved and protected for future generations.” 

The key to preserving our country’s heritage he says “is to look at it as a marathon; preservation of our heritage will not come over night. It is a marathon everyone should be involved in.”

On the 21^st of March 1985 a group of people from Langa gathered to march to Kwanobuhle just 10 km’s away to attend a commemorative service of the 25 year anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre. The commemorative service had been banned by the police resulting in the shooting of between 20 and 43 people by the apartheid police.

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela unveiled the Langa Memorial on the 21^st of March 2000 in memory of the Sons and Daughters who sacrificed for the freedom of our country.