28 May to 4 June 2017 marks the 20th year of commemorations of the Child Protection Week Campaign.

The campaign calls for government to reflect on the strides made in fulfilling the provisions of the Children’s Act and the relevant policies. It also call for All South Africans to Play their Part as individuals and collectives, in building a protective environment for a child to thrive.

The week will be launched on 28 May 2017 in Langa, Cape Town, Western Cape and closed on 4 June 2017 in Lusikisiki, OR Tambo District in Eastern Cape under the theme:
“Let us all protect children to move south Africa forward”

Government departments are requested to participate in the national Child Protection Week campaign to:
§ Profile varied programmes and services they provide towards the protection children’s rights and their wellbeing.
§ Contribute in the collective effort to mobilise the society against the abuse, neglect and exploitation of children.
§ Educate, share information and activate the staff to champion child rights and protection in their respective communities- in their diverse roles.
§ Participate in the social media platform’s created to engage in the national dialogues on issues pertaining to children rights and protection.

Under his leadership, Mayor Cllr Makhosini Nkosi together with his political and administrative team embarked on a series of public consultative meetings under the Annual Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Budget Roadshow Program, which commenced from the 26^th of April to the 11^th of May 2017.

Under the theme, Navigate through the Storm and Seas, the purpose of the roadshows was to present the 2017/18 draft budget and to inform the public about the municipality’s achievements and projects that have been implemented in the previous financial years.

The consultative process is mandated by the Local Government Systems Act no 32 of 2000 and this Act calls for municipalities to encourage and create conditions for the local community to participate in the affairs of the municipality. The roadshows therefore serve as the forum of engaging and listening to the views of the communities and business sectors in Newcastle.

“It is no secret that the municipality’s financial state is not all that good but we have put together plans and strategies to help eradicate the situation, this is in line with the municipality’s initiative in encouraging public participation in the municipality’s budget allocations and to promote transparency as well as encourage the culture of saving”, said Nkosi.

Mayor urged young people to choose careers that would enable them to find employment and benefit from the infrastructure development. “It was for this reason that the Mayoral Bursary Scheme was introduced. The municipality is in dire need of engineers and people to work in the finance department, so we need young people to study these scarce skill courses so they can assist the municipality”, he alluded.

“It is imperative that we provide people with dignified basic services through infrastructure, water & sanitation and electricity. There are areas in the Eastern part of Newcastle that have been identified for infrastructure development which will assist in the socio-economic growth”, concluded the Mayor.

All the roadshows were well attended by the community in different wards but the challenge still remains that a lot still needs to be done to alleviate lives of the Newcastle residents.

SAPS will also be on a look out this Easter

The Easter holiday season is synonymous with high crash and accident rates which claims too many lives and or incurs injury to our citizens. This ultimately negatively affects the country’s economy by millions of rands.

In order to influence the mindset of road users, it is vital that law enforcers create a euphoria of Omni-presence, especially over this notorious period. It is therefore the intention of Newcastle Traffic Services to embark on a rigorous high visibility weekend in order to suppress road carnages.

On Thursday 13 April 2017, Traffic services hosted a roadblock on Allen Street at Hilldrop. Attending this roadblock was Newcastle Municipality’s Deputy Mayor Cllr D. Sibiya, Executive Strategic Director for Community Services Mr. Mandla Sithole, Manager to the Mayor Mr. Andile Masondo and Chief of Traffic Mr. A.K Anandhaw

Welcome those who were present Deputy Mayor emphasized the importance of having traffic officers on the road during this season, she said that the lives of the passengers and even the drivers depends it.
“Motorists tend to get overly excited this season and end up drinking alcohol whilst driving, we need to send all those to jail because they are putting people’s life in danger. Speed is also a lethal offence, motorists should be held accountable for not adhering to speed limits” said Sibiya

Chief of Traffic Mr. Anandhaw said that there are many factors that contribute to these unacceptable behavior from motorists I.e. High volumes of traffic over a short period- increased travels to places of worship. Easter is the first long break since December holidays, thus migrant workers return to their homes and this increases traffic volumes, KZN is still the preferred tourist destination prior to the winter period.
“Road-user behavior- drivers do not obey rules of the road. They do not ensure that they are buckled up and the latest plague is the cellphone usage whilst driving. Pedestrians are also oblivious to road safety and pose a huge hazard in the road environment.” Continued Anandhaw

The Delegation proceeded to the road where they started spreading messages of road safety to motorists by engaging with them and also handing out road safety kits.

Law enforcers ready for the Easter holiday