RECORD NUMBER OF VISITORS TO CITY OVER THE FESTIVE SEASON

EThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede said there was a record number of visitors to the City over the festive season with 884 236 holidaymakers flocking to eThekwini.

There was also a reported 3.9 million visitors to the City’s beaches over the holiday period which culminated in direct spend of R2.3 billion while the contribution to the City’s Gross Domestic Product was R3.8 billion.

There was also 8 073 temporary employment opportunities created as a result.

Of the visitors to the City, 94 percent were from Gauteng said Mayor Gumede, while 12 percent were foreign tourists coming from mainly the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America and France.

Speaking at an Executive Committee meeting held today, 30 January, Mayor Gumede said this success was due to a joint effort by the City, other spheres of government and the private sector working together to ensure that Durban was marketed to domestic and foreign markets.

“We are hoping to double the number of visitors to our City moving forward. We have to repackage Durban to both our domestic and international visitors. Durban is more than just the beach and warm weather. We are saying to the world, come and enjoy our food, our world-class facilities and hotels because Durban has so much more to offer.”

Mayor Gumede also thanked Durban Tourism and Tourism KZN for their efforts in marketing eThekwini and flying the City’s flag high. She urged them to continue marketing the City.

Speaking on the festive season, she said no drownings were reported at guarded or protected beaches adding that 155 rescues were carried out with over 26 000 people receiving treatment for different medical reasons including 10 who were sent to hospital for incidents of near drowning, sprained ankles and arm dislocation.

A further 6 000 warnings for drinking in public, fighting and illegal braais were issues while 641 motorists were charged for driving unlicensed vehicles and parking in prohibited areas. Mayor Gumede said 58 people were arrested for cellphone and handbag theft. Over 1 600 children were separated from their parents but were reunited.

“Thank you to all officials who worked hard throughout the festive season. Thank you to the public for their cooperation. We will continue with education campaigns for people to continue to keep the City clean,” she said.

MAYOR URGES RESIDENTS TO CONTINUE TO USE WATER WISELY

EThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede encouraged residents and businesses in the City to continue to use water wisely by reducing their consumption.

She was speaking at the Executive Committee (Exco) meeting today, 30 January.

“People need to save water and reduce their consumption. We may not have a water crisis in the City but saving water is still important as we are still in drought. We are still implementing evening water restrictions in some parts of the City.”

She said a progress report would be presented to Exco detailing all the interventions made by the City and the impact these interventions were having.

Mayor Gumede also urged the public to promptly report water leaks using the City’s award winning WhatsApp number on 073 148 3477

She said the City would strengthen the water education officers’ initiative as they were on the ground in communities encouraging and teaching residents how to save water.

CITY TO OFFER SUPPORT TO IEC IN RUN UP TO NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS

The Executive Committee today, 30 January approved a report outlining support the Municipality will offer to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for the upcoming national and provincial elections.

The report states that the national and provincial elections are scheduled to occur during April and August 2019. The election dates still have to be confirmed.

The staffing support eThekwini Municipality will provide include Municipal officials closer to the elections acting firstly as Sub-Municipal Electoral Officers responsible for portfolios such as recruitment and results, operations, logistics and warehouse function and distribution management.

There will also be further provision of staff to support activities at various levels including ward managers, voting station staff, drivers etc. During this time Municipal staff will be granted time off or in some instances be paid overtime.

Furthermore, the report states that during special activities such as voter education and registration, docking of scanners, special vote capturing and results capturing, Municipal staff members who are deployed may be paid overtime as most of these activities occur after hours.

The City will also offer logistical support to the IEC with the allocation of halls, libraries, grounds and other infrastructure for registration and voting stations as well as training venues with the tariff costs being waivered. The provision of various types of vehicles including specialised ones will also be catered for.

It is necessary for the City to lend support as the Electoral Commission in KwaZulu-Natal establishes the Provincial/Durban Electoral Operations and Results Capturing Centre. The Centre provides for the capturing of all election results in eThekwini also providing the overall nerve centre operation for the province.

The financial implications are R2 million which includes staffing support including overtime, logistical support including vehicles, generators and supplies, printing and the results centre venue hire cost.

MOSES MABHIDA STADIUM TO HOST A WIDER RANGE OF EVENTS

A wider range of events will be held at the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium following the tabling of a report at an Executive Committee meeting held today, 30 January.

The report states that Moses Mabhida Stadium has positioned itself as a leading sporting and lifestyle events venue, offering safe and genuine experiences, which contributes to local economic development, poverty alleviation and the preservation of the City’s sporting culture.

It states that the Stadium has secured football content through mutually beneficial agreement with the Professional Soccer League (PSL), PSL teams and the South African Football Association where an allocated amount of league, knockout tournaments and Bafana Bafana fixtures are to be hosted. However, the current arrangement is limited to football.

The report grants authority to enter into long-term mutually beneficial partnerships with eligible event and conference organisers in order to attract a broader diverse content through mutually beneficial partnerships with event owners, other than football.

By entering into long-term mutually beneficial partnerships with event organisers, professional conference organisers and tour operators, this will assist to attract and acquire diverse content while retaining and protecting the existing content. The report outlines criteria as a guideline which is in line with the stadium vision and objective as well as the cost breakdown for different category venue hire.

For conferences there are discount packages for the hospitality suite and a conference package for conference organisers as well as a 10 percent discount on booking for the Skycar and a Stadium Tour for tour operators.

Head of the Mayoral Parlour Martin Xaba said the aim of the report is to diversify the events held at the stadium to generate further income which currently is used mostly for football matches.

ENDS

Issued by eThekwini Municipality’s Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa.