In the late hours of Sunday the 2nd of November 2014, a call came through the Protection services department reporting once again that a fire at broken out at Siyahlala Informal Settlement (ward 25).

Less than a month ago a similar incident had occurred when a shack burnt down from a mysterious causes resulting to the family losing all their belongings, unfortunately the lives of four people were lost.

Eight firefighters were dispersed to the site finding the whole shack engulfed with angry flames after what the community claimed was led to an explosion. On arrival firefighters worked tirelessly to extinguish the fire whilst making sure that the flames do not spread to adjacent households.”

“Bystanders informed me that there was a huge explosion. This was evident because in the shack there were two generators, two 19kg gas cylinders, two 48kg cylinders and not less than five 9kg gas cylinders. By the look of things, the shack was a fortress the way it was locked”. Said Mr. Mpeko (Acting Chief Fire Officer)

According to the SAPS the place was used as a shebeen, belonging to a widowed woman who stayed with her three children.

” There was absolutely no way that any of the deceased would have made it out of there, the fire was too intense because of the LPG found from the generators, the lock as well made it even more impossible to save them, this is mainly why the deceased where found burnt beyond recognition”. Concluded Mr. Mpeko

The fire prevention division within the Newcastle Municipality visited the Siyahlala-la community a few weeks ago to conduct fire awareness campaigns thus giving the community Fire Safety Precautions. It was through the rising number of households and agricultural land ravaged by fires that the Newcastle Fire Service became concerned and therefore decided to visit and workshop the community.

It is a known fact that fires can never be prevented, since it`s a crucial element in preserving nature. However, they can be prevented from damaging items and areas of value.

It is therefore the role of each one of us to join efforts in the fight against unwanted fires.

The fire department had the following Fire Safety tips for the residents:

• Always remember all fires start small.
• Fires need oxygen, something to light it and something that can burn.
• Removing any of the three elements stops the fire.
• Avoid unnecessary open flames.
• Keep your property free of grown and dry vegetation.
• Make firebreaks around your property (farm).
• Check Fire Danger Index (FDI) with the Fire Protection Association (FPA) office and /or fire department before making a firebreak.
• Avoid accumulation of combustibles in an unprotected area.
• Do not take a chance with open fires on a windy day.
• Keep matches away from children
• Keep fuel can away from children
• Make sure you extinguish the fire after a braai.
• Report ALL FIRES you can see regardless of size.
• Switch off the heater and stoves when you go to bed or when leaving the house.
• Do not place heaters to close to bed linen or curtains or any combustible material.
• Do not overload electrical plug sockets.
• Do not leave children alone in the house with heater/stove on.
• Stay away from bad habits that can cause harm to life, property and environment.
• Report ALL FIRES on 034 312 1222

The Municipal Excellence Awards were recently held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban on Friday 10 October 2014. The awards pay tribute to the champions of development, despite the enormous challenges in Kwazulu Natal and precisely in local government. What makes these awards even more distinctive is that they allow communities to have their say and be the judges as to whom they believe to be the best thus communities from all over Kwa-Zulu were invited to support and vote for their Municipalities in different categories presented and it was on this occasion that Newcastle Mayor Afzul Rehman was crowned as the best performing mayor of a local Municipality for the consecutive third year.

Present at the admirable event were Ministers, MEC’s, Mayors and officials from all constitutes in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Mayor James Nxumalo the Mayor of eThekwini and Host city welcomed all those in attendance “These awards seek to acknowledge municipalities that have worked harder and faster to fast track service delivery, and also to encourage municipalities to come together and share best practice in which we are all able to come together and enhance service delivery.”

Hosted by the Department of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and led by MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube. The awards were commemorating its third anniversary since the awards began.

On this occasion we acknowledge the book of proverbs which declares “Withhold not from those who do good”, therefore tonight we acknowledge municipalities that have continued on their quest to do good. What makes these awards special is that this year we celebrate the third year since Salga and Cogta partnered to ensure that ordinary people who do their ordinary best are recognized. The Municipal Excellence Awards seek to recognize excellence in municipal practices that improve administration and service delivery. Over the past few years the Municipal Excellence Awards has allowed municipalities to share their best practice ideas with Municipalities whilst at the same time showcasing their own municipalities. The awards also seek to celebrate Kwa-Zulu Natal as a province.

Cllr Rehman began his term of office as Mayor in 2009 and since then Newcastle has seen remarkable improvement. In the past 5 years alone the municipality has spent over R2 billion rand on infrastructure development and new equipment. We have transformed the landscape with new roads, new state of the art parks, new municipal buildings and won numerous awards apart from the best performing award.

We have upgraded sewer and water, electrified more areas, built new bridges, opened new intersections, paved walkways, built more low cost houses and basically changed the lives of almost every citizen.

“We all understand that communicating with communities, listening to them, and planning around their issues, is the most powerful key to satisfied communities.” Said Mayor Rehman. Deputy Minister of Cogta Mr. Andries Nel who delivered the key note had these words to say, “The Collective presence of municipalities here today brings meaning to the motto of the province which is Sukuma Sakhe.” We also congratulate all the winners for the night and hope this will lead to an improved service delivery in the local sphere were another’s are also motivated to excellence.

AN INTERVENTION TO QUELL TAXI VIOLENCE BY NEWCASTLE MUNICIPALITY AND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNITY LAISON
The taxi violence in Newcastle has been prevalent following the death of the member of the taxi Association last week. The violence has borne for more than two years and many lives has been lost since the beginning of the year, it has been getting worse ever since. The taxi associations are believed to be fighting over routes hence fuel the violence with commuters dragged in the violence.

On Tuesday last week the Newcastle municipality along with the Department of Transport and Community Liaison MEC met with five taxi Associations that are operating in the area in a bid to quell the violence. MEC Willies Mchunu signed a cooperation agreement with all five taxi associations in order to resolve taxi violence.

“The taxi industry is the black owned multi-billion rand business with no proper operating regulations and many within the industry are driven by greed as result they end up killing the competitors within the industry” said MEC Willies Mchunu.

MEC Mchunu also stated that

Today we are here to intervene, we are entering into the cooperation agreement with all taxi associations and all are expected to participate in the process.

“Here we are dealing with people who are greedy and who are hit man, any offender should be given maximum fine” he added.

As results the MEC introduced drastic measures to normalize the operation:
• Introduction of an independent facilitator to evaluate all records of the five associations to verify the legitimacy of members.
• Ensuring that the Municipality plays a leading role in ensuring there is proper management and control systems for the rank that is used by the associations
• Vetting of the security companies that are employed by the taxi associations to provide services to associations at the rank and outside
• Ensuring that the SAPS effectively deal with crime at the rank.

Newcastle Municipality intervention:
• Together with KZN Department of Transport’s Deputy Directors and local Traffic admin staff, a data base was created in order to separate legal from illegal taxis perusing the rank. This makes monitoring easier and helps curb the violence amongst taxi operators intending to monopolize the facility. Rank permits which were issued to be displayed on the legally registered vehicles and discernable emblems (stickers) issued to the various Taxi Associations. The stickers were designed in-house by Superintendent K.H. Jawair.
• Boom gates with number plate recognition devices are soon to be installed to exclude entry of unauthorized vehicles.
• The Task Team evicted the mechanics in and around the rank so as to ensure no environmental degradation. This team identified the problems that must be rectified by the relevant departments so as to ensure better traffic flow and the reinstallation of services for commuters.
• The Task Team’s deployment and presence at the rank automatically mitigated the criminal elements present- no more fighting or trading of illegal goods and no entry of persons bearing arms and ammunition in vehicles associated with the violence.

Newcastle Mayor Afzul Rehman concluded

We are working closely with the KZN Department of Transport and are confident that peace and order will prevail once the whole process starts.

As Newcastle municipality we want to create a town that is the role model in the country and are grateful for the intervention made by the department of Transport hopeful this will result in telling a good story for Newcastle” added Rehman.

The Newcastle Municipality, under the theme, water is life, 20 years of water delivery for social and economic development, embarked on an educational water campaign which began from 17—23 March 2014. National Water Week is an awareness campaign by the Department of Water Affairs which serves as a powerful tool of re-iterating the value of water and the need for sustainable management.

The campaign started off with senior citizens being taken on an educational of the water treatment plants and carwashes with a high rate of water wastage were also visited. As the campaign moved forward households with reported water leakage were repaired. In addition, public areas were identified where the community at large was encouraged to engage in a dialogue with municipal water technicians on different methods as to how they can save water and the telephonic share call was made available to report water related or enquiries on 0860 144 144 as a method of encouraging the community to save water buckets were distributed.

The theme coincides with South Africa’s celebrations of 20 years of freedom and democracy. South Africans will also be encouraged to focus on the need to restore and preserve the integrity of this most precious resource which is water. In this campaign Newcastle Municipality also declared war against water leaks..