The time has come to tackle problems differently

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Be innovative and forget party politics. This was the plea of the GRDM mayor, Memory Booysen, to attendees at the GRDM's (Garden Route District Municipality) IDP | Budget and PMS Representative Forum meeting held in the George Civic Centre on Thursday 23 January.

Booysen addressed the various stakeholders, which included members of the different municipal councils in the region, officials of municipalities and sector departments in the Western Cape.

The meeting also acted as a platform for stakeholders to present their projects and programmes for implementation in the Garden Route district.

Booysen wished everybody a prosperous 2020, in the same breath warning them not to be naive about the difficult circumstances we are facing in South Africa. With the poor state of the economy, he said, one may well ask, "How are we going to prosper if the economy is not growing?"

Charity begins at home, and the time has come for people to do things differently - for themselves. While the economy is not growing on a national level, nothing stops people in the region to grow the local economy. The new buzzword in the country is the "district approach", and the Garden Route is our district's umbrella.

Monde Stratu, municipal manager of the GRDM, said an important part of the process is to engage the communities in a structured manner. He stressed the importance of different government departments working together in order to succeed.

Many municipalities are facing serious challenges, including water scarcity and increasingly violent protest actions. The patience that communities had with their municipalities has come to an end.

He said municipalities must be clear in what they communicate. We must work for the benefit of the various communities. Proper budget and planning must be in place and must be backed by the necessary reserves. In the IDP process, priorities must be looked at and a point must be made of prioritising and servicing people who live below the poverty line.

From left are Eden Cluster Commander Major-General Oswald Reddy; member of the Knysna Municipal Council Georlene Wolmarans; and Speaker of the Garden Route District Municipality Barnie Groenewald. Photo: Eugene Gunning