Mayor engages with faith leaders
The mayor of Mossel Bay, Dirk Kotzé, engaged with important partners and opinion leaders in the community last week in the preamble to tabling the draft budget for 2024/25 at the open monthly council meeting held on Thursday, 28 March.
On Tuesday, 26 March the quarterly safety forum meeting was held at the Mossel Bay Town Hall.
Among the points on the agenda was an update on the 330 CCTV cameras that have been installed in the Mossel Bay area, the CCTV interaction and links with safety partners and the processes to follow in terms of applications for CCTV cameras.
Also discussed were the latest on liquor by-laws and possible amendments, in response to concerns about the impact of alcohol abuse on community safety. New traffic-related bylaws were also discussed.
Following the safety forum meeting, Kotzé met and addressed faith-based leaders on 27 March, during a walkthrough of the Joint Operation Centre (JOC), based at the Mossel Bay Golf Course in Linkside.
The visit to the JOC flows from the last engagement with faith-based leaders in November 2023.
During this engagement, faith-based leaders requested a more in-depth look at what the municipality is doing to enhance community safety. The meeting held at the JOC marked the fourth formal engagement with faith-based leaders since November 2022.
Kotzé. said: “Mossel Bay has had to deal with many social challenges such as drug abuse, youth unemployment, crime, gender-based violence, and child-headed households.
"Faith-based leaders in our communities - who on a daily basis often have to act as psychologists, teachers, mentors, parents and guide communities through these challenges - are well placed to advise me and my team on what has worked in the past, what could work in the future and also where we as the municipality can facilitate support for faithbased organisations and their initiatives,” said Kotzé.
He added that, in line with the GROW social regeneration pillar of council’s GROW Strategy, taking hands with faith-based organisations and their leaders, was vital in ensuring the municipality improves its delivery of social services.