Speaker cracks whip as municipality race against time to house homeless
Published: March 29, 2020<< BACK TO NEWS
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Speaker of Council Buyelwa Mafaya took charge of the temporary relocation of homeless citizens to designated community halls as the institution could not achieve deadlines set for commencement of the 21 days lockdown on Thursday at midnight.
Accustomed
to leading a raucous local legislature, Mafaya issued stringent communication
to all Councillors to take charge at temporary accommodation centres.
"President Cyril Ramaphosa's declaration of a national lockdown to curb
the spread of coronavirus infections was made in the interest of the wellbeing
of every citizen including the most vulnerable.
"Despite this clear call to action, the deadline set for the municipality
came and went. Yet, the process is not completed. I personally helped to get
systems in place at Walmer Town Hall, Jarman Hall and the Uitenhage Town Hall
on Saturday.
"Today
(Sunday), we will be distributing resources to these centres and the overflow
from Jarman Hall will be accommodated at the Daku Hall.
"Acting City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi and Chief Operating Officer Mandla
George joined me as we personally visited the venues to see how the process is
implemented. Three days after the start of the lockdown can never be good
enough.
"I will keep on pushing for the finalisation of the accommodation of the
homeless as the flouting of the regulations by the municipality must stop
now," Speaker Mafaya said.
The other halls identified to house the homeless are Daku Hall and the NU2
Community Hall in Motherwell.
Dedicated webpage
A dedicated
webpage on the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality website http://www.nelsonmandelabay.gov.za/page/covid-19 has been established to share
numerous aspects of the Nelson Mandela Bay Disaster Management response to the
pandemic including frequently asked questions.
For more
information go to www.sacoronavirus.co.za, the national helpline 0800 029 999
or whatsapp 060 012 3456.
Ends
Issued on
behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality by COVID-19 Communications
Workstream Convener Kupido Baron (082 780 2726 / 041 506 1500 / kbaron@mandelametro.gov.za /
@kupidobaron).
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