Oudtshoorn, 22 February 2022 – The Executive Mayor of the Greater Oudtshoorn, Cllr Chad Louw’s first 100 days in office focused not only on service delivery but also draws attention to new initiatives and action steps that will be rolled out in the course of the year.
“We, as the municipality, have a lot of important work to do, but it is an equal truth that we have a lot of good work both underway, and forthcoming,” Louw stated. He also said that he believes that the municipality-community partnership deserves to be celebrated as both the community and the municipality work hard to make the town even better.
The municipal council has requested presentations from companies to assist them with erecting Waste Reduction Plants to move to zero waste and to generate energy. The municipality wants to move to a circular economy, meaning waste collected will be used to generate alternative energy. They are in the process of formal proposals to assist the municipality in becoming a part of the green energy world and to reduce our carbon footprint tremendously. “We have sent a delegate to visit a site of a Waste plant to have a practical understanding of the process and bring feedback to the council,” Mayor Louw said.
An issue of serious concern to the Louw is illegal dumping and keeping the town clean. The municipality is currently building a strong relationship with the Department of Fisheries, Forestry, and Environment. The Department has nominated Oudtshoorn Municipality to be part of their Cleaning and Greening Project which goes hand in hand with the Illegal dumping awareness campaign of the municipality. This project started on Thursday, 17 February 2022 when Mayor Louw, law enforcement, and officials from the Department of Fisheries, Forestry, and Environment went door to door with information sessions, issuing fines to spaza shops that are guilty of illegal dumping in open spaces, and also visited a few schools with the mayor speaking to some schools about the importance of planting and caring for trees.
Louw also focussed on Local Economic Development, Youth Development & Social Development. He stated that this type of development is the core of any town to achieve financial sustainability and strengthen municipal transformation and development. He said that the municipality must make sure that this happens, and that council identified 17 key strategic municipal properties to be developed for residential and business purposes. Call for proposals will be opened for the public in March 2022 that will stimulate investment and the construction industry in the Greater Oudtshoorn.
The following projects are still in the pipeline for the Greater Oudtshoorn Municipality:
- Appoint Airport Implementation Agent – The tender process will complete in March 2022 and the successful bidder will be in the responsible position as economic development facility to create job opportunities.
- Construction of container HIVE – The construction process will start soon and will be completed in May 2022. The project will provide operating space for local SMMEs.
- Construction of Informal Traders – Additional trading spaces will be provided to traders through this project. The project is currently in the tender process.
- Construction of Bridgton Mall – Investors plans to start the construction phase in March/April 2022 creating employment opportunities for local SMME and workers in the construction industry.
- Trading project with Alphen aan den Rijn on plants – Municipality facilitated order from a farmer in the Netherlands for a local black farmer to grow trees. Council facilitated an engagement in February 2022 with the Western Cape Tourism, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (WESGRO) to support the local farmer. All plans and trading certificates are to be finalized in April 2022.
- AGRI – PARK Development and FPSU Dysselsdorp – Louw and the administration are currently with the Department of Rural Development to implement the program.
- Implementation of Youth Development Program – This agriculture program will launch in Feb/March 2022 and the aim is to mainstream youth in this very important economic sector to transform the sector.
- Development of Ablution facility at the MALIBONGWE Shelter – The construction process will start in March 2022 to build additional toilets at the shelter.
- MOU, payment, and workshop with Council on the Food Pantry Project – The Municipality signed MOU in December 2021 and financially contributed to Eden Food Pantry, to support local soup kitchens and nutritional centres.
- Implement Youth Driver’s License project – This project is planned for March to train 20 youth in driver’s licenses as a critical skill for full-time employment.
- Narysec Program in Collaboration with Umusa Foundation – The municipality met with the National Department of Rural Development in February 2022 to discuss the implementation of training for 20 Youth from the Greater Oudtshoorn Area.
“We are in the process of developing as a Municipality and taking a step in the right direction towards service delivery and good governance,” said Louw. “I believe that all of this mentioned above are a collective effort and I praise each individual working on these projects from the administrative side to the ones doing the labour.”