Makana Mayor’s Christmas message

That time of the year has arrived when families and friends come together to celebrate the festive season. It is a season to show love, of giving to the needy, showing compassion; and most of all to forgive.

We are about to witness the passing of a year that has presented us with many challenges yet determinedly we managed to overcome them. We have learnt valuable lessons that we are taking forward into the new year as part of our future life survival kit.

However, just like the ever present seasons of the year we also had wonderful moments that we will cherish in our memories.

This festive season comes at the time when this new Council is busy consulting with our stakeholders to establish Ward War Rooms as initiated and championed by the Honourable Premier of the Province of the Eastern Cape: A platform created for everyone to come and meet and talk about their needs and how we can improve the performance of our municipality. I would like to thank all those who are assisting with and participating in the success of the War Rooms. My door is always open to those who want to participate in the development of Makana. I know that this municipality is still financially challenged but I would like to urge our community to be patient as we are beginning to implement some of the resolutions that the Council has taken to address these challenges. As we enjoy the festive season, may we not forget to pay for the services rendered to us by the municipality. This will also assist in rendering adequate and uninterrupted services to our citizens.

I would also like to appeal to motorists and pedestrians to take extra care on the roads. We have experienced many road fatalities where we lost many lives unnecessarily.

The festive season must not be turned into a period to experiment with liquor and other intoxicating substances and then hit the roads. Let us all obey the traffic rules and reduce road fatalities.

As Council, we have observed a high level of criminal activities in our community. We call upon our communities to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the police.

We must show that we care by protecting one another and our properties.

On behalf of the Council of Makana I would like to take this opportunity to also thank all those municipal administrative staff who worked tirelessly to provide services to our community.

May you all have a blissful Christmas and a new year filled with blessings. – Nomhla Gaga, Makana Municipality

Executive Mayor