LED by the Mayor, Councillor Solethu Lucas and Chairperson of the Community Services and Public Safety Portfolio, Councillor Karen Smith, the Sundays River Valley Municipality came together to build a children’s playground in celebration of Mandela Day.
The event was attended by members of the council, officials, teams from COGTA’s Community Works Programme, representatives of Sundays River Valley Collaborative, members of Legal Aid South Africa, and children from the community.
The municipality chose to focus on children this year, heeding Tata Mandela’s call to prioritise children in the South African democracy. In his launch of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in 1995, Tata emphasised the importance of prioritising children, saying, “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
During the event, Mayor Lucas highlighted, “Some of those aspects in the ecosystem include beautification, effective use of open spaces and proper maintenance of recreational spaces which is what we are doing today.”
Director for Community Services and Public Safety, Andiswa Mbongwe spoke about the municipality’s children-focused plans, greening, and beautification efforts, emphasising the importance of creating spaces where children can thrive.
The event was part of the municipality’s greening and cleaning programmes, running under the theme “30 Green Deeds for 30 years of democracy.”
The municipality is set to host different programmes across the Valley under this theme, promoting a cleaner, greener, and more beautiful environment for all.
Earlier this year, the Sundays River Valley Municipality earned the title of the Eastern Cape’s greenest municipality.
The award came with a cash prize of R500 000.
