Strandfontein residents, the mayor, deputy mayor and councillors joined forces to clean Strandfontein Pavilion as part of the City of Cape Town’s citywide Clean-Up Campaign.
On Saturday March 12 Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis visited Strandfontein Pavilion as part of the campaign, as well as to highlight plans to upgrade the pavilion.
Also at the event were deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, Eddie Andrews; ward councillors and residents.
“We’ve allocated R2 million in the January adjustment budget for the planning phase of the rebuilding of the pavilion,” he said (“R2 million for development assessment of Strandfontein Pavilion”, Plainsman, February 23).
This would be followed by an allocation of R40 million in the coming financial year to begin a broader development initiative, said Mr Hill-Lewis.
Earlier this month, Mr Andrews visited the Strandfontein Pavilion with the City’s urban planning and coastal management department for an overview of the phases of planning and the vision that will be implemented for the area.
Ward 43 councillor Elton Jansen said they had encouraged the community to continue to clean-up the spaces and surrounding areas as dumping remained a big problem across the City.
“I am excited for the upgrade of the Strandfontein Pavilion. We will be discussing this upgrade in various future meetings. There will also be public participation in the future,” he said.
“The fact that we are seeing a budgetary item, in terms of the planning phase and the commitment from the mayor, is good. I am excited and satisfied to see the coming upgrade. I want to take my community and constituency from the start to the finish alongside this project,” said Mr Jansen.
“Part of creating civic pride in our Mother City is ensuring all communities have functional and quality spaces. I believe that Strandfontein Pavilion can be one of those spaces,” he said.
Strandfontein is one of 10 blue flag beaches along the Cape Town coastline. The EPWP Solid Waste workers clean the pavilion and the shore on a daily basis to maintain the blue flag status of this beach.
“However, up in the dunes there were plastic items, such as bottles and also discarded face masks. It is important that we all play our role in keeping our public spaces clean,” Mr Jansen said.
Last month they launched a major city-wide Clean-Up Campaign and have run clean-up operations in several communities over recent weeks. “Our hope is that residents take joint responsibility for the cleanliness of the city,” said Mr Hill-Lewis.