LUSAKA, SOUTH AFRICA’S EKURHULENI SIGN MOU TO EXCHANGE IDEAS ON SERVICE DELIVERY

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By Nicky Shabolyo
PRESS SECRETARY
HIGH COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA IN SOUTH AFRICA

PRETORIA – SATURDAY, 25TH MARCH, 2017 – The cities of Lusaka and Ekurhuleni of South Africa have agreed to share best practices in public service delivery and to work together in order to strengthen collaboration.

This came to light on Thursday when Executive Mayors for Lusaka and Ekurhuleni, Mr. Wilson Kalumba and Mr. Mzwandile Masina, respectively, signed a memorandum of understanding to operationalise the agreement.

Local Government Association of Zambia president, Mr. Christopher Kang’ombe, who is also Mayor of Kitwe, various officials from Lusaka City Council and the city of Ekurhuleni, witnessed the signing ceremony which took place yesterday at the Mayor’s Parlour in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng Province.

The two parties have pledged to work together to ensure that they delivered quality services to their people by exchanging lessons in best practices. They have also agreed to strengthen cultural and heritage linkages as well as share ideas on how to manage community challenges such as HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Masina said Ekurhuleni was ready to share any technical lessons with Lusaka as well as participate in activities that the Zambian capital would be willing to involve their South African counterparts.

“We are equally ready to invite Lusaka City Council to our various programmes. This will be one sure way through which the focus areas of this MOU will be actualised,” Mr. Masina said.

He said Ekurhuleni was delighted to sign the memorandum as this reaffirmed the long-standing relations with Lusaka which dated back to the struggle for freedom “when we spent time in the trenches.”
“Many have read how long the late ANC president O.R. Tambo spent in Lusaka during the struggle. We are happy that we could find time during O.R. Tambo’s centenary, which has been declared by the State President as the Year of Oliver Tambo, to sign this memorandum. A lot of activities are being staged across the country to commemorate Oliver Tambo’s life,” Mr. Masina said.

He noted that the signing of the MOU represented the wide aspirations that leaders saw several years back which were in line with building sustainable relations.

In response, Mr. Kalumba said the signing of the MOU encapsulated the joint decision of the two local authorities to work together for the common goal of improving lives of the people.

He said Zambia and South Africa have had warm relations from the era of the liberation struggle and that the agreement would now make it easier for the people of the two cities to connect.

“Both countries have established embassies in the other and a Joint Commission for Cooperation is in place. We also have a lot of South African businesses in Zambia and citizens of the two countries are working and studying in the other country.

“I should simply say that the atmosphere is right for the cooperation I have outlined above to move down as symbolised by the agreement being signed today. Local authorities are closer to the people and connecting through this manner is a catalyst for deeper engagement which can be attained through exchanges in education, culture, technology, commerce and other activities.”

Mr. Kalumba said Lusaka City Council did not want to sign agreements that would end up being filed away to gather dust. “Therefore, I will work tirelessly to ensure that parties derive the envisaged benefits of being party to the agreement, whose process started in 2014.”

The Lusaka Mayor also informed the gathering that the Zambian Government has gazetted the house in which the late Oliver Tambo lived while in exile in Lusaka as a national monument. A Statutory Instrument, to this effect, was issued at the end of 2016.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Speaker of the Ekurhuleni Council Ms. Patricia Kumalo, members of the mayoral committee; for Finance and Economic Development Mr. Doctor Xhakaza; for Water, Sanitation and Energy Ms. Tiisetso Nketie; for Roads, Transport and Provision Mr. Petrus Mabunda; for Community Safety Ms. Vivien Chauke, and Acting Head of Department for Sport, Recreation, Arts, Heritage and Culture Mr. Vincent Maumela.

The Zambian delegation also comprised Socio-economic Planner Ms. Brenda Mwalukanga, Environmental Planner Ms. Estella Mbulo and Socio-economic Planner Mr. Innocent Mwansa.

The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a Category A municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa.

It is one of the most densely populated areas in the province, and the country. The economy in the region is larger and more diverse than that of many small countries in Africa. It accounts for nearly a quarter of Gauteng’s economy, which in turn contributes over a third of the national Gross Domestic Product. Many of the factories for production of goods and commodities are located in Ekurhuleni, often referred to as ‘Africa’s Workshop’.

The network of roads, airports, rail lines, telephones, electricity grids and telecommunications found in Ekurhuleni rival those of Europe and America. It can be regarded as the transportation hub of the country.
It is home to OR Tambo International Airport; South Africa’s largest railway hub; a number of South Africa’s modern freeways and expressways; the Maputo Corridor Development; direct rail, road and air links connecting Ekurhuleni to Durban; the Blue IQ projects, with linkages to the City Deep Container terminal; the planned Gautrain rapid rail link to Johannesburg and Pretoria; and the OR Tambo International Airport Industrial Development Zone (IDZ).

Issued by:
Nicky Shabolyo
PRESS SECRETARY
HIGH COMMISSION OF ZAMBIA IN SOUTH AFRICA
Mobile: 00 27 810027548 Email: press@zambiapretoria.net; nshabolyo@gmail.com

1. m_20170323_142337 – Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni Mr. Mzwandile Masina speaking while Executive Mayor of Lusaka Mr. Wilson Kalumba listens in. This was at the signing of an MOU between Lusaka and Ekurhuleni in South Africa on 23rd March, 2017.

2. m_20170323_143248 – Executive Mayor of Lusaka Mr. Wilson Kalumba speaking while Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni Mr. Mzwandile Masina listens in. This was at the signing of an MOU between Lusaka and Ekurhuleni in South Africa on 23rd March, 2017.

3. m_20170323_143537 – Executive Mayors of Lusaka and Ekurhuleni, Mr. Wilson Kalumba and Mr. Mzwandile Masina, respectively, signing the MOU. This was in Ekurhuleni on 23rd March, 2017.

4. m_20170323_143621 – Executive Mayor for Kitwe Mr. Christopher Kang’ombe and Speaker of the Council of Ekurhuleni Ms. Patricia Kumalo sign as witnesses at the signing ceremony of an MOU between Lusaka and Ekurhuleni on 23rd March, 2017.

5. m_20170323_143824 – Executive Mayors of Lusaka and Ekurhuleni, Mr. Wilson Kalumba and Mr. Mzwandile Masina, respectively, shake hands after signing an MOU on cooperation. This was in Ekurhuleni on 23rd March, 2017.

6. m_20170323_143924 – Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni Mr. Mzwandile Masina presents to his Lusaka counterpart Mr. Wilson Kalumba, a gift in the form of a framed letter written by the late African National Congress president Oliver Tambo on 20th October, 1976 to the Mayor of the city of Reggio Emilia in Italy asking for support in the liberation struggle.

7. m_20170323_144647 – L- R: Member of the Mayoral Committee Ms. Vivien Chauke, Executive Mayor of Kitwe Mr. Christopher Kang’ombe, Member of the Mayoral Committee Ms. Tiisetso Nketie, Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni Mr. Mzwandile Masina, Executive Mayor of Lusaka Mr. Wilson Kalumba, Speaker of Ekurhuleni Council Ms. Patricia Kumalo, Member of the Mayoral Committee Mr. Doctor Xhakaza and Member of the Mayoral Committee Mr. Petrus Mabunda. This was on 23rd March, 2017 after the signing ceremony of an MOU between Lusaka and the City of Ekurhuleni.