The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Mondli Gungubele used the opportunity to condemn racism and appealed to the public to fight racism together.
“There is no two ways about this matter, but to call a spade a spade,” said the mayor.
“Racism is wrong and there can be no justification for certain people calling others ‘monkeys’ in a dispensation that is supposed to be democratic and non-racial.
“Let me remind this house that our forefathers sought to advocate for human supremacy. They mocked racism as a mark of human purity. They despised division as a form of human security.
“Instead they opted for foundations of human cohesion which finds expression in unity, non-racism and non-sexism.
“It is therefore my honest appeal that as leaders in society we use every second, every minute, every hour and every day to fight this absurdity called racism,” Gungubele said.
Gungubele also announced that the city has once again received a clean audit.
“As you would know this is the first time in the history of this metro that we have received back-to-back clean audits. We made history by receiving our first clean audit a couple of years ago and now we have re-written this history by annexing the 2014/15 one killing any myth that some might have had about our previous achievement,” Gungubele said.
Gungubele said that once again the city demonstrated its resolve to better the education levels of our children by giving bursaries to an additional 848 learners this to the tune of R26-million.
There are already 403 youngsters on the system after having been absorbed in the previous few years.
These bursaries will ensure that children, especially the less fortunate, realize their dreams to pursue their higher education ambitions at various institutions in the country.
Gungubele added that he has taken note of tertiary education taking centre stage through the #FeesMustFall campaign.
“However, while we understand the plight of the students, we must condemn the vandalism of public property and the illegal closure of the universities because such defeat the object of liberating our people through education.
“After all, the time has come to view education as the main tool to solve our social problems and not through social grants, and therefore we must fight to keep the doors of learning open at all times.”
Regarding the drought, the mayor said that the water issue coupled with the drought that is hitting various parts of our country are a cause of grave concern.
“In fact our own residents of Germiston were among the first victims of the water situation as their taps ran dry for a number of days late last year.
“It is therefore critical that as we do our work on the ground, we become vigilant in spreading the message of water preservation.
“Indeed our people must be continuously reminded that the threat of water is real.”
