To my honourable Councillors with your immediate families, may your festive season also be filled with jovial mood during your recess period. Please think about your community and your mandates entrusted to yourselves by the community, and come back next year with more innovative strategies to better the lives of our community.
To all the personnel of Highlands Municipality, I also wish you a peaceful festive season and an enjoyable one, and come back next year with more vigour and determination to continue where you left off.
To everyone, please do not drink and drive - be safe. Do also refrain from unsafe sex, as HIV/AIDS pandemic is out there - be healthy.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL !!!
Mayor Jane Nkalane of Highlands Municipality
at the historic ZASM tunnel in Waterval Boven
Sam Africa Khumalo, the co-ordinator of the Highlands Economical Development Forum
A key feature of IDP projects focused on areas of multiple deprivations is the engagement of the local community in identifying the problems and helping manage the solutions with the aim of creating a more sustainable improvement in their living conditions. It is an approach that brings together the concepts of strategic partnerships and local agenda.
Consulting the members of the public on development proposals is not
a new phenomenon and our IDP as a broad development framework shows an
indisputable linkage with the Local Economic Development Strategies as
both deals mainly with improving the quality of life within the carrying
capacity of supporting ecosystems.
It is relevant that before project steps are undertaken the stakeholders
who are to play pivotal roles are identified. It has been seen in our
forum meetings that the community embraces a very diverse range of people
of different racial, social and economic backgrounds all with something
to contribute albeit with different skills and interest.
Following this practical situation and indicators it would be noted that
the local people are seen as local experts, therefore, the benefits of
making sure that they participate fully at all levels will ensure that
local concerns are heard, capacity and skills development is enhanced
by getting people to work together and expertise and skills are tapped
into.
Our vision is to fast track economical development within the Highlands
Municipality region by creating strategic partnership with private sector
and to foster a community base development approach.
The Highlands Economical Development Forum [HEDF] is currently busy with their constitution and anybody who would like to give their input can contact Sam Khumalo at the Highlands Municipality before 15 January 2003.
This follows the outcome of a meeting, as reported in the last edition of the Midveld News, Proudly Dullstroom, between the MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs, Mr Jacob Mabena and the MEC for Safety and Security, Mr Thabang Makwetla. The meeting was held recently to discuss the need for a comprehensive security plan for this festive period.
These youths were recruited and drawn from the volunteers programme (Letsema Campaign), and were previously offering their services in more than ten (10) police stations in the province. They received basic and elementary training in the fields of communication, security, intelligence, handling complaints and the value of tourism industry.
In addition, the tourism monitors will be deployed in the identified flash areas of high tourist concentration such as the ZASM tunnel in Waterval Boven
According to South African Tourism, "the tourism foreign Air Travel contributed 4.8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), R4.6 billion, to our economy". Therefore the measures launched should serve as a welcome relief to tourists.
