Johannesburg - From cradle to grave - that is what the City of Joburg’s department of community development does to assist its residents through the journey of life.
New member of the mayoral committee for community development Nonhlanhla Sifumba, who previously served as a DA proportional representative councillor for five years, deals with issues such as library and information, recreation, arts and culture, heritage, Joburg City Parks and Zoo, as well as the city theatres.
She describes the portfolio as the one which brings people through the full journey of life.
“We start by educating them through our libraries, zoo and arts.
“As they mature they use our swimming pools, recreation centre, theatres and parks - and then we bury them. We deal with people’s lives every day and we hope that we can bring happiness into them. We want to see Joburg residents smiling,” she said.
One of her first priorities is to get all the swimming pools open.
The city has 58 swimming pools and so far, 12 have not reopened because of problems.
“We need to find quick solutions. Many pools are old and not up to standard. We are supposed to do repairs in winter, but this has not been happening,” she said.
One of her long-term plans is to keep the pools open the whole year.
“This may not be cost-effective, but we will be looking into it.”
Sifumba has been meeting her staff every Wednesday to receive presentations and plans for the different directorates.
“We ultimately want to ensure that people understand what community development is about.”
Parks and the security in the parks is another one of her concerns.
“We need the buy-in of communities who will take charge of them in terms of dumping, security and issues such as drinking in parks. Many parks are not safe, because the communities are not involved with them,” she said.
She is planning imbizos in all the regions and plans to invite community members to hear their needs.
There will be a bigger focus on recreation centres, which are much needed to keep children and teens off the streets, says Sifumba.
September was extremely busy with various functions for Heritage Month.
As far as sport is concerned, Sifumba is planning to extend swimming teaching programmes to all the municipal pools, with a specific focus on safety and drowning. She is also planning to extend cricket programmes to previously disadvantaged areas.
Maintenance of facilities is another issue of great concern.
“Many have not been maintained and are not cleaned properly or regularly. I want to involve both provincial and national government to allow us to use their facilities,” she said.
She is also embarking on a big drive for the donation of sports equipment and uniforms.
“I have been hearing disheartening stories from children wanting to participate, but they have no uniform. Any donations of any kind would be welcome. We will distribute them,” she said.
'I'm determined to make a difference'
Nonhlanhla Sifumba was born and grew up in the “heavy ANC” area of Orlando West, Soweto, which was “deep ANC territory", she said.
After matriculating she studied banking and business at the Wits School of Governance.
She worked part-time for the IEC (Electoral Commission of South Africa) and met up with Mike Moriarty, the DA's current chief whip in the Gauteng Legislature in 2006 at the local government results centre.
“We chatted and I identified with his thoughts. I did a bit of research into the party’s policies and started attending meetings and my interest grew,” she said.
In 2010, she saw an advert looking for public representatives and decided to apply.
She was made a proportional representative councillor.
Sifumba said the first few weeks in office as MMC had been hectic. “This is hard work and totally different from being in the opposition, but I am enjoying it and learning every day.
“This may sound like a cliché, but I want to make a difference. I want to see Joburg residents smiling and being happy. I know I can’t expect miracles overnight, but I will be doing my best.”
Her family was initially shocked when she joined the DA. “Living in my area, we all thought it was a white man’s party. We were indoctrinated.
“I once drove to visit my gran with a poster of Mmusi Maimane on my car and the neighbours later went to ask her if I was on drugs.”
“But I have taken a few people from my streets to meetings and they are very impressed with what they have heard,” she said.
@annacox
The Star