The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Kabelo Gwamanda, launched a youth-driven initiative, “Ke Kasi Ya Rona”, on Tuesday, 16 May 2023, at Alexandra Stadium in Alexandra. Accompanied by the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Group Corporate and Shared Services, Cllr Loyiso Masuku; local councillors; Region E director: Liziwe Ntshinga-Makoro, and representatives from the key partners such as Coca Cola, Flick Pest Control, Health and Welfare Sector Education (HWSETA) and Adreach.
Mayor Gwamanda said: “As a young person who grew up in Joburg, I take pride in the City of Johannesburg. All the young people represented here today are directly responsible for bringing an initiative from the bottom up which is where the revolution starts.
“They say faith without action is death. I am here to acknowledge the action that you take on the daily basis to put your efforts together to make Alexandra a better community, a token of the possibility for residents in the City of Johannesburg.
“You need to stand up and willing to contribute. The developmental nature of our state will not happen unless you take an initiative, and you are bold in the steps that you take. Whatever that you believe in achieving as long as its intention is to grow the community and become a developmental initiative for South Africa as a whole. You will definite be part of the modern revolution,” emphasised Mayor Gwamanda.
“As the City of Johannesburg our responsibility is to partner with corporate to make it easy to you to do business so that youth can benefit and be able to participate in the opportunities that are presented. I am here today as a young person to present myself to you. I am a very energetic young man whose primary objectives is to have an impact in this lifetime.
“My determination is to make my country a better place. I would like to call on every one of you to partner with the City of Johannesburg today so that we change the culture of complaining and become an active citizen. We will make sure that we create an environment that is conducive for you to have those opportunities and that is my commitment to you. I am here to serve and here to stabilise the City of Johannesburg,” he said.
A total of 36 educational ambassadors trained by HWSETA have been deployed in all nine wards in Alexandra to educate the residents about keeping their environment clean and distribute the rat cages and creatively introduce clean-up operations with the participation of the community members.
Elaine Brass, CEO of the HWSETA says the Ke Kasi Ya Rona programme will create jobs for young people in Alexandra.
The initiative includes various elements such as rat cage project manufacturing for rodent control, sports arts and culture to get the youth on board and recycling to turn Alexandra waste into an economy opportunity.
The educational ambassadors are coming from the same wards in Alexandra, and they are familiar with the surroundings. They are working together with the City’s Augmented Field Services workers who are always on the ground.
17/05/2023