On 11 June 2010, during the opening game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Bafana Bafana, showed us all what a united South Africa looks like.
After years of preparation and a few frantic months before the kick-off, South Africa pulled out all the stops to host the world’s biggest sporting event. It was a huge success and we showed what we can achieve when we work together. This past week marked the 10th anniversary of this spectacular event that I am sure we all remember with our own special memories.
As the Mayor of Cape Town during the FIFA 2010 World Cup, I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between the late nights and seven-day weeks preparing for the opening game in our city, and our efforts in these recent months of 2020 to rapidly prepare our health services for the COVID-19 pandemic, to adapt our essential services for continued functioning during the national lockdown and to deliver much needed food-aid to households in distress
Our health service has been significantly expanded, with, among other measures that have been put in place, the development of the largest temporary field hospital in Africa at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. City line departments, working in partnership with local organisations, are surging their efforts to promote social distancing and good hygiene practices in high risk spaces such as public transport interchanges, shopping centres, and informal trading spaces.
With a large array of actions in response to the pandemic now being carried out, a greater number of businesses are in a position to safely return to work. To aid small businesses to open their doors again, we distributed over 3 000 business support packs to local businesses in Cape Town so that they could safely get back to work and have all the necessary safety and hygiene measures in place.
As business got back to work, we were also able to resume many other services that weren’t available during the lockdown. With businesses opening up again, we have understandably seen a significant increase in residents using public transport. I inspected one of our MyCiti Bus Stations this week to make sure that cleansing of our busses, and depots was being carried out, travellers were wearing masks and maintaining their social distance and making use of the free hand sanitiser available at the stations.
Winter Readiness
It was just as I finished the inspection that the first heavy rains hit our city. Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, reported that in 24 hours the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre took just more than 1 000 calls with 367 calls taken overnight and 713 calls answered during the day. Just under 60% of calls were flood related, equally spread between informal and formal housing, while 40% were storm related calls. Our emergency and disaster management staff were deployed across the City to assist with the impact of the storm,
The City’s Winter Readiness Plan and the work that goes into mitigating the impact of severe weather is a massive undertaking which involves a number of our directorates. Our Plan includes the identification of at-risk informal settlements and moving residents to higher ground or implementing flood-mitigation measures. Throughout the year, and more so before the peak seasons, our officials do ongoing education with practical advice and awareness programmes around floods and fires. We clean critical stormwater infrastructure in high flood-risk areas and remove invasive aquatic and terrestrial plants along key river corridors. Illegal dumping into stormwater channels, sewers and canals significantly increases the risk of flooding when it rains. All our planning is not as effective without the assistance of our residents who have to help us keep these waterways clear. Our staff also proactively prune and maintain trees to minimise the risk of falling branches and debris.
Over and above these service related interventions, we partner with the South African Social Service Agency to provide humanitarian aid to residents in distress and discomfort as a result of flooding and storm damage, and provide funding to shelters to create additional temporary capacity for street people.
Humanitarian relief
A few weeks ago, I announced the reprioritisation of R12 million ward funding towards a humanitarian relief programme to assist our residents who have been affected by the economic downturn due to the global pandemic. I am delighted to inform you that residents of Wards 63 and 65 were the first recipients of the City’s humanitarian relief programme. The City partnered with six NGOs to assist with the packing and distribution of food parcels to the two wards. This programme will continue to be rolled out to other wards while my office expands the City’s support to more soup kitchens across the City.
Power of Unity
Reminiscing about South Africa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Tshabalala commented last week about the unity across South Africa that was clear for all to see. I know that despite the attempts of some to sow division and disunity in our society, the majority will stand together, and work together towards a more harmonious and prosperous future for everyone. It is my hope that you will also speak out when you see others misrepresenting a situation and trying to mislead the public.
If there is one thing that the 2010 FIFA World Cup taught us, it was that anything can be achieved when we all work together. Defeating the COVID-19 pandemic will require all of us to play our part, because by working together, we can limit the spread and all get back to business. Wear your mask, wash your hands regularly, and maintain a safe social distance. We will get through this as #OneCityTogether.
The City has a number of channels available to residents to report problems or seek assistance:
- Flooding, blocked drains and service disruptions can be reported to the City’s Call Centre on 0860 103 089
- Enquiries and/or complaints regarding burst and leaking water mains, faulty and leaking water meters, blocked and overflowing sewers can also be sent via SMS to 31373
- Enquiries and/or complaints regarding electricity fault reporting can be sent via SMS to 31220
- For emergencies, residents can contact the Public Emergency Communication Centre by dialling 107 from a landline or 021 480 7700 from a cell phone