ETHEKWINIWEEKLY BULLETIN

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18 December 2015 [Issue 15]By 2030 eThekwini will be Africa’s most caring and liveable city

“keePInG yOu In The knOW”

DuRBAn is strengthening its trade, investment and tourism ties with ethiopia with the launch of the ethiopian Airlines which had its

fi rst direct fl ight from Addis Ababa landing at king Shaka International Airport on 16 December 2015. ethiopian Airlines joins Turkish Airlines

which recently launched direct fl ights from Istanbul into Durban while Qatar Airways had its fi rst direct fl ight from Doha to Durban via Johannesburg from 17 December 2015. The new fl ight services will operate four

times a week – on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.Currently, the emirate’s daily Boeing 777

operates daily fl ights between Durban and Dubai.ethiopian Airlines will operate a non-

stop service three times per week – on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday - with a Boeing 737 aircraft. The partnership is expected to bring

a wealth of opportunities by unlocking potential investment opportunities between South Africa and ethiopia. eThekwini Mayor Cllr James nxumalo said

it is an honour to work with one of Africa’s most successful, profi table and fastest growing airline.“This partnership will enable us to

move closer towards creating the desired networks in our continent and is in line with our plans to ensure that Durban is positioned as the gateway into the African continent,” he said. nxumalo said working with ethiopian

Airlines brings in a wealth of opportunities for kwaZulu-natal and the City as it will connect Durban to over 90 destinations globally, including 52 destinations on the African continent. “This will give us the much-needed

connectivity to Africa, europe, the Far east, the Middle east and parts of the Sub-Indian continent,” nxumalo added.The City of Durban has committed itself to

working closely with the ethiopian tourism sector to ensure that all fl ights are full at all times. “Durban has many offerings and facilities to ensure that we both derive benefi ts as we try to advance our respective economies,” said nxumalo.Durban Tourism Regional Marketing

Manager Thulani Zungu said operations between Durban, Africa and the world will enable the world to experience the City’s diverse attractions, lifestyle and possibly build more trading and investment relationships. “This is a great opportunity to advance

our gateway status while strengthening tourism and business ties with the rest of the world”, said Zungu. ethiopian Airlines CeO Tewolde

Gebremariam said they are very pleased to be working together with Durban as their third destination in South Africa. “The new Durban service will give our

customers convenient connectivity options when traveling,” he said.

FirsT eTHiOpiaN airLiNes DireCT FLigHT LaNDs iN DurBaN

The fi rst Ethiopian Airlines fl ight landed in Durban on 16 December 2015. The KwaZulu-natal government has worked tirelessly to improve air connectivity between the province and the rest of the African continent.

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The Mitchell Park Zoo recently added new additions to their amazing animal collection when the Mitchell Park Zoo Trust acquired two South American Alpacas.Alpacas are known to grow as tall as 99 centimetres in height and can weigh up to 84 kilograms.The caretaker in charge of feeding the Alpacas, Christopher Dladla said the animals were a joy to look after and were people-friendly.“They aren’t aggressive. If they are feeling threatened they make a growling sound to warn you before they spit at you. But this rarely occurs,” he said.In addition to the Alpacas, Animal Conservator Arumugam Moodley said the zoo had a lot of other interesting animals and birds to see.“There is an array of animals for our visitors to enjoy. We

MiTCHeLL park ZOO WeLCOMes NeW aLpaCas

eThekWInI MunICIPAlITy’S land Invasion Control Branch will next year embark on a massive integrated services campaign in a bid to inform and educate the public about land invasion procedures. land Invasion Control Branch

Manager, Blake Richards, said the branch decided on the informative drive after their office was constantly inundated with complaints and requests for services which are not always offered by the land Invasion unit. “For example, a building may be occupied by people and the owner wants to sell the building. The public would normally see this as a land

invasion issue. Such issue would have to be dealt with by the owner. he would apply for an eviction order through court and not rely totally on land Invasion Control going out to remove these people from his building,” he said. Richards explained that

the same procedure would apply to Council property. This, he said, is based on the prescripts of the Prevention of Illegal eviction and unlawful Occupation Act. Richards said Council and the

public need to be sensitised on what land invasion is and the role members of the public can play in preventing or controlling these land

invasions. “Based on this, we will be

embarking on an exercise to integrate services between the key stakeholders of land invasion. A few of these stakeholders are Metropolitan Police Services, Security Management unit, all law enforcement Sections and the human Settlements unit,” he said.“This would deal with more

effective planning. This is a huge step for land

Invasion Control as it is crucial in managing land invasion. The outcome of this would

be a new communication strategy which would define procedures, roles and

responsibilities,” Richards added. The Municipality has a zero-

tolerance stance against land invasions. land is a scarce resource and the Municipality has an obligation to protect and preserve land with the purpose of utilising it to unlock future development opportunities for the growth and sustainability of the City.The Municipality has

proven its commitment to the eradication of slums and informal settlements by providing more than 180 000 new homes for almost half a million poor and unemployed eThekwini residents since 1994.

CiTY eMBarks ON MassiVe LaND iNVasiON eDuCaTiONaL DriVe

have birds that are currently laying their eggs and we have new additions that were born at the zoo,” he said.Parks, Recreation and leisure Senior Manager Sherelle Whitaker said several areas in the park and zoo were also

undergoing renovations. “Currently the bandstand’s wooden supports are being repaired, the koi ponds-lining is being stripped and leaks are being attended to. A flowerbed surround is being built around the tree in the restaurant area,”

she said.She said the park and the zoo were getting visits from many patrons on a daily basis and the City would continue to ensure that it is in pristine condition.

The Mitchell Park Zoo has two new Alpacas additions to the animal family. Caretaker Christopher Dladla, spends most of his time feeding and looking after the two Alpacas.

issue 15 eThekwini weekly BulleTin 3

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eThekWInI’S road will be that much safer following the launch of a driver training academy, the first of its kind to be implemented in South Africa.Municipal officials, including

bus drivers, will receive training through the academy. The Afro Fleet Driver Training

Academy was officially unveiled this week amid much fanfare. In attendance was Transport Minister Dipuo Peters as well as other dignitaries. The academy and the work

they do is also supported by the provincial Department of Transport and the eThekwini Transport Authority. Alban Mathou director of

Afrofleet said the idea for the academy came about while conducting maintenance on

the Municipal Fleet where they noticed preventable damage to vehicles.“This led us to believe that

drivers didn’t understand the vehicles they were driving. We conducted a feasibility study to look at training drivers to better understand their vehicles making them better and safer drivers. We then researched simulators to effectively train drivers,” Mathou said. “The Minister delivered a

speech at the launch where she pledged her support for this initiative. She emphasised that their focus was on safety,” Mathou added.Mathou said the programme

is suited for both novice and licensed drivers. With a novice driver, the focus will be on understanding the basics of

safe driving.While for licensed drivers a

half day assessment will be done where areas of weakness are identified. A programme is drawn up to tackle those specific areas of the individual driver, he said.“This comes at the right time

as headway is being made with the City’s Integrated Rapid Public Transport network. This network will require

drivers with specific skills as the City will heavily be investing in a new fleet. It would serve the public well

to have skilled, capable and competent drivers,” Mathou said.The training of drivers within

eThekwini will be facilitated through the City’s Skills Development Department who

will identify and assess drivers from departments who require training.The centre has three lecture

rooms that can accommodate 30 candidates each while the simulator can accommodate 12 people every hour. The benefits of the partnership include up skilling drivers to ensure safe, effective and efficient driving thereby reducing the risk to other road users. This will also improve the quality of professional driving education and training. The simulators are imported and offer state-of-the art driver training. The technology reproduces characteristics of driving a real vehicle in a virtual environment replicating external factors such as adverse weather and traffic conditions.

DriViNg aCaDeMY seT TO iMprOVe DriVers skiLLs

Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters watches a demonstration by an official from Afro Fleet as he explains how the simulation will be used to improve the skills of bus, truck and taxi drivers. (Right) Minister Peters test driving the simulator during the launch of the state-of-the-art Driver Training Academy in Durban.

Minister Dipuo Peters speak-ing at the launch of the Driver Training Academy.

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Email: gugu.mbonambi@durban.gov.za

If you would like to submit feedback or contribute to eThekwini Weekly Bulletin

EDiToRiAl TEAMEDiToR: Tozi Mthethwa, Head of Communications • ConTEnT EDiToR: Gugu Mbonambi

WRiTERs: nondumiso Mathomane, Charmel Payet, Ziyanda Dlembula, Princess nkabane

& Mandisi hlatshwayo DEsign AnD lAyouT: Zama Zwane

One of eThekwini Municipality’s key focus areas is to address the imbalances of the past through structured skills development and empowerment programmes for residents.The Municipality has 23

annual programmes in place, which are designed to assist in creating equality in order to help women and young people to realise their dreams and provide them with

opportunities that will enable them to take-up leadership positions in the workplace and in society.The economic Development

unit is the department mandated to promote economic development, job creation and economic transformation in the City.In line with national

Government’s youth development plans, the Municipality has prioritised

youth and skills development by allocating a budget of R65.8 million towards youth development initiatives for the 2015/16 financial year. Specific focus will be shifted

to the downtrodden youth in line with the 2015/16 financial year theme for the Municipality of: “Changing lives through radical economic transformation and accelerated service delivery.” The Municipality places great

emphasis on empowerment. To demonstrate this, the City has created the highest number of work opportunities totalling 134 883, which is higher than any other city in South Africa. Another initiative which has contributed to economic transformation through a comprehensive skills advancement programme is the Zibambele Poverty Alleviation programme, which has created about 6000 jobs.

ETHEKWini AT youR sERViCE

DuRBAn will be marketed and promoted globally as the ultimate destination for visitors after Durban Tourism signed a partnership with Grammy multi award winning acapella group ladysmith Black Mambazo as the City’s tourism ambassadors. This historical moment saw the unveiling of a new t-shirts with imprints of some of Durban’s tourist’s attractions which include the City beaches, ushaka Marine World and the world-class iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium. Another marketing strategy to fly the City’s flag will include the group mentioning what Durban has to offer in the various destinations they will be touring around the world. head of Durban Tourism Phillip Sithole said this is a step closer to taking Durban to the world as it meant attracting even more possible investors and tourists to the City. “We have endorsed an exciting partnership with our home-grown icons and we are positive that the Durban Brand and the proud kZn Roots will

CiTY parTNers WiTH LaDYsMiTH BLaCk MaMBaZO

be transcended to various global audiences, as the group will be taking Durban to the world,” he said. Sithole said it was important for the City to formalise its partnership with the 55-year-old group as part of Durban’s

campaign to aggressively draw international tourists.“Our proud authenticity and home-grown musicians play a significant role in marketing the City through music, while creating social cohesion and unity,” said Sithole.

The signing of the partnership transpired at the home of ladysmith Black Mambazo group founder Professor Joseph Shabalala in Clermont this week as a way of honouring him for his contribution in the music industry.

Cllr Ntombi Ndlela and Founder of Amambazo Joseph Shabalala shaking hands after signing a partnership contract in Clermont.

From Left: Cllr Ntombi Ndlela, Phillip Sithole and Ladysmith Black Mambazo during the partnership launch in Clermont. (Below) Grammy Awards received by Ladysmith Black Mambazo over the years.