Author: Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe

George Municipality is proud to introduce its newly appointed Divisional Commander for Fire and Rescue Service; Johan Brand (53), who assumed his duties on the 1st of May 2023. Brand, whose surname in Afrikaans is brand, means fire, brings 33 years of experience to the George Municipality’s Fire Brigade.

Brand started his career in the Fire and Rescue services in January 1990, in Vereeniging, in the Vaal Triangle, Gauteng. He moved up the ranks in the firefighting pyramid in Municipal Fire Services in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, holding various positions such as Junior Firefighter, Firefighter, Senior Firefighter, and Leading Fire Fighter, where he was introduced to the first level of management in the business. In 2001, he ventured into industrial Fire service as a Fire Officer at Columbus Stainless in Middelburg, to expand his knowledge in industrial rescues and fire prevention, for 14 years.

In 2014, he also studied further in Fire Technology at various institutions and finally achieved his higher diploma with the South African Emergency Services Institute. One of the highlights of Brand’s career is when he had to face the devastating fires of Knysna and George in 2017 and 2018 as the Garden Route District Municipality’s Fire and Rescue Services Station Commander for mountain veld and bushfires.

“I would like to thank George Municipality and our Heavenly Father for this opportunity, and I hope to contribute positively to the service and share my knowledge and skills of the past 33 years with the next generation of young firefighters.”

When cooling off from fighting fire blazes and rescue operations, Brand enjoys watching and playing sports. He played Rugby and Volleyball and achieved provincial colours in Volleyball for Mpumalanga in 2002.

Brand affirms a saying that, “behind every successful man there a standing woman”, as he attributes his career success to his wife, Lynette, who has been his “support and inspiration”. “We were blessed with two beautiful children Bianca and Werner, who have already left the nest and are flying on their own by the grace of The Almighty,” he concluded.

The George Municipality is pleased to announce that, on 29 May 2023, Council approved the new Spatial Development Framework and the Amended Integrated Development Plan 2022 – 2027. These are two of the most important plans for the future development of George.

The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is a document that outlines the long-term vision, goals, and strategies for the development of the city. It is the roadmap for decision-making and resource allocation for the next five years. The IDP covers a wide range of areas, including infrastructure development, housing, transportation, education, healthcare, and environmental management. It sets goals and targets for each area and identifies the actions and projects needed to achieve them.

The Spatial Development Framework (SDF) is the primary planning tool that focuses specifically on the spatial or physical aspects of development. It is a spatial representation of what the IDP seeks to do. The SDF provides a framework for organizing and guiding the spatial arrangement of land uses, infrastructure, and other elements in the city. The SDF also considers the relationship between different areas and how they interact with each other. It looks at issues like transformation, accessibility, connectivity, and the efficient use of resources.

Overall, the IDP and SDF work together to ensure that development is coordinated, sustainable and meets the needs of the community. The IDP sets the overall goals and strategies, while the SDF provides a spatial framework for implementing those goals in a way that optimizes land use and promotes a well-planned, functional, and attractive urban or rural environment.

Both plans, with their many annexures and supporting documents, have been through public participation processes and assessed by Provincial Government and National Treasury. In both instances, the municipality was congratulated on the excellent work.

Cllr Dirk Wessels, the MMC for Planning, commended the planning and performance management officials of the municipality. “More often than not municipalities make use of consultants to develop these plans. This comes at a great financial cost. However, in George, the IDP and SDF were developed completely in-house by our highly skilled staff. I would like to thank my colleagues for their commitment and hard work to ensure that we have a planning foundation that is sound, pragmatic, and transformative. The results are proof of the excellent staff we have in George Municipality.”

The Director for Human Settlements, Planning and Development, and Properties, Ms Lauren Waring said that besides the cost factor, developing strategies internally was advantageous for several reasons, including internal teams having first-hand knowledge of the complexities of the organisation and the community it serves; internal teams have a long term investment in developing effective strategies; and developing strategies internally promotes a culture of continuous learning within the organisation.

She said: “When employees are involved in the strategy development process, we feel valued, empowered, and motivated to contribute to the organization’s success. This participatory approach encourages collaboration, communication, and a shared sense of purpose, resulting in better implementation and execution of strategies. I am very proud of the work that has been approved by Council.”

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CAPTION FOR PHOTO 1

Front row from left: Lauren Waring (Director: Human Settlements, Planning and Development and Property Management) Ald Leon van Wyk (Executive Mayor of George) and Cllr Dirk Wessels, (Portfolio Councillor for Finance, Planning and Strategic Services with one of the approved documents).

Second row from left: Dr Kosie Haarhoff, (Deputy Director: Strategic Growth and Development) Siphokazi Maku (Senior Clerk: Ward Committees), Delia Power (Deputy Director: Planning and Environment), Michelle Lee (GIS Spatial Intern), Paulina Saaiman (Administrative Officer: Ward Committees) and Whitney Prins (Manager: IDP, PMS and Public Participation).

Back row from left: Nathi Timakwe (Spatial Planning Intern), Lynette Groenewald (Senior Spatial Planner), Henko Lourens (Spatial Planner), Corlize Bester (Principal Technician GIS Planning) and Ronel Le Fleur-Valla (Principal Clerk: IDP)

The George Municipality is proud to show off the new additions to its firefighting fleet and the Executive Mayor of George, Alderman Leon van Wyk accompanied by the Portfolio Councillor for Community Safety, Councillor Charlotte Clarke, received the fleet in a special handover event that took place at the George Fire Station on Tuesday, 16 May 2023.

Also present at the official handover of the vehicles were Senior Manager of Environmental Services Sivuyile Mtila who represented the Community Services’ directorship, the Manager for George Municipal Fire and Rescue / Disaster Management Cornelius Barnard, Santa Sternsdorf, the Station Commander Training, and the newly appointed Divisional Commander for George Fire and Rescue Services Johan Brand.

“I am delighted to be receiving these vehicles that have been specifically manufactured for us by a local manufacturer,” said Mayor van Wyk as he received the vehicles from a local business owner, Brandon Woolley. “We are extremely proud to take ownership and start using these vehicles,” said Cornelius Barnard, manager for Fire and Rescue / Disaster Management.

Handing over the vehicles to the George Municipality, Woolley, the director and owner of Ramcom Trucks, a George-based company, said: “We are privileged to be able to build these vehicles for the George Municipality Fire Services out of a new material called polypropylene, which is very durable, lightweight and I think for the fire department it will be a good addition to their fleet. We are very proud of the vehicles we’ve manufactured, and we are glad that we can serve and make a difference in the community with our products.

At the George Fire Station, Santa Sternsdorf, the Station Commander Training, described each of the four new additions in the George Municipality’s fleet.

“Engine 1 (Scania) is our major pumper, a vehicle for structural firefighting – a completely rebuilt vehicle after an accident, we’re very proud to welcome her back to the fleet. Then we have one of our new vehicles a Toyota Land Cruiser with a skit unit with a state-of-the-art Polypropylene Unit that allows us to increase the water to a 600-litre tank to join the fleet.”

“Next, we have a rescue vehicle, again state-of-the-art Polypropylene canopy that now is being introduced as part of the rebuild for the vehicle where we gain weight, but we have a vehicle fit for purpose for rescue, with the jaws of life and all the needed equipment that we need for mass rescues.

“Finally, the Polaris 4×4 vehicle allows us to diversify Rescue and firefighting in overall, a good off-road vehicle to add to the fleet of George Municipality,” Sternsdorf added.

Please watch comments on the handover of the new vehicles: https://youtu.be/v6BAtDzN0UU

Caption:

Photos by: Deidré Cloete

From left: Cornelius Barnard (Manager for George Municipal Fire and Rescue / Disaste Management), Brandon Woolley (the Director and Owner of the George-based Ramcom Trucks), Alderman Leon van Wyk (Executive Mayor of George) and Councillor Charlotte Clarke (Portfolio Councillor for the Community Safety).

(Left) Denmar King (Junior Fire Fighter) and Brad Bussack (Fire Fighter),

(Middle) Santa Sternsdorf (George Fire Station Commander Training), Johan Brand (the newly appointed Divisional Commander for George Fire and Rescue Services), Sivuyile Mtila (Senior Manager of Environmental Services, Councillor Charlotte Clarke (Portfolio Councillor for the Community Safety), Brandon Woolley (the Director and Owner of the George-based Ramcom Trucks), Alderman Leon van Wyk (Executive Mayor of George) and Cornelius Barnard (Manager for George Municipal Fire and Rescue / Disaster Management),

(Right) Moses Mongo (Fire Fighter), Simpiwhe Sikhosana (Junior Fire Fighter), Heinrich Pienaar (Junior Fire Fighter).

The George Municipality is proud to show off the new additions to its firefighting fleet

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The George Municipality’s Strategic Growth and Development division has recently hosted a Women’s Entrepreneurship Workshop to empower women entrepreneurs in the George Municipal area. The workshop focused on Entrepreneurship, Business Leadership, and Human Resources for SMMEs, as well as creating a platform for a local women entrepreneur to share her success story.

“With the anticipation of the City of George’s economic development growing rapidly in the coming years, it is critical that the Municipality continues to create opportunities for all to flourish, including the empowerment of women,” said Dr Kosie Haarhoff, the Deputy Director for Strategic Growth and Development in the George Municipality in his opening remarks, during the workshop which took place on 20 April 2023 at the Workers Collection Point.

The core functions of the Municipal Strategic Growth and Development comprise business support tools and guides, investment promotion, agriculture and rural development, enterprise development, support and capacitation on the informal sector and support to the formal sector. “We aim to reduce poverty and stimulate greater social and economic progress, and the workshop is the premise of building a more stable and resilient community,” Dr Haarhoff added.

Karwynn Meyer from the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) shared the importance of networking in a business environment. SEDA is an agency of the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD). SEDA provides non-financial support to small enterprises and cooperatives. The Agency’s services include business information, business training, incubation, access to markets, technology assistance, and marketing support.

SEDA’s involvement in the workshop was fitting as its programmes and interventions prioritise SMMEs, and cooperatives based in townships and rural areas and those owned by women, youth, and persons with disabilities. SEDA aims to ensure that these SMMEs and cooperatives improve their competitiveness, the quality of products, and the production processes.

A local entrepreneur, Myrtle Bartle also addressed the attendees sharing her success stories with her range of businesses under her Playtime Productions enterprise.

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The month of May is International Internal Audit Awareness Month and the Internal audit professionals play an important role in raising awareness and elevating the Internal Audit (IA) profession. Therefore, it is an ideal opportunity to showcase The George Municipality’s Internal Audit Team and the value-adding Role of Internal Audit.

The Municipality’s internal audit has taken up the challenge to launch an awareness campaign as part of the celebrations. According to JP Rossouw, the George Municipality’s Chief Audit Executive, the Municipal IA has been engaging its stakeholders and has also collaborated with the Municipal communication and media office to create content that will be published on the municipal social media platforms throughout the month of May in celebration of International Internal Audit Awareness month.

“The George IA Team is truly proud to be associated with such an amazing profession. Being able to Add Value and improve processes of the municipality should be one of the key drivers for young South Africans to choose a career in internal audit,” Rossouw said.

Below, Rossouw explains the purpose of Internal Audit, motivates why young South Africans choose a career in internal auditing, simplifies internal audit for someone who has never studied internal audit and introduces George Municipality’s Internal Audit team.

Purpose of Internal Audit

The George Municipality’s internal audit activity aims to provide independent, objective assurance and consulting services designed to add value and improve the municipality’s operations. The internal audit activity helps the municipality accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of governance, risk management, and control processes.

To elaborate on the functions and importance of Internal Auditing, we have used this opportunity to showcase our Internal Audit Team and the Role of Internal Audit within the municipality with some frequently asked questions.

Why should young South Africans choose a career in internal auditing?

Internal Auditing is a very exciting career. One where you can change any organisation’s direction by improving efficiency and effectiveness based on internal audit observations and recommendations. You get exposed to all aspects and levels of a business, making Internal Audit a perfect development environment for other strategic management positions.

Internal Auditors assist management to address the business’s high strategic risks and assist the organisation to achieve their goals and objectives. We act as Change Catalysts to initiate and manage strategic and procedural change by providing assurance, advice, and insight at Board and Organisational levels.

How would you define internal audit to someone who has never studied internal audit?

All organizations have goals and objectives. However, there are risks/ events that will hamper the organisation in achieving those goals and objectives. That is why the organisation institute various controls in place to govern and manage those risks and processes. Now Internal Audit assists organizations to achieve those goals and objectives.

We do this by providing a comprehensive service (what we call assurance and advisory services) to add value and improve the organization’s processes. This is done by assessing and reviewing the organization’s risks, controls, and governance processes. We are independent and impartial in providing these services. (Independence is maintained by a dual reporting line: administratively to the Accounting Officer and functionally to the Council / Audit Committee).

The Internal Audit Activity strives to provide value-added service to an organisation by providing workable and sustainable solutions.

George Municipal Internal Audit Team: 

• Jean-Pierre Rossouw (Chief Audit Executive)
• Heybré Ellis (Manager: Internal Audit)
• Zimasa Bulo (Senior Internal Auditor)
• Kloper Mabunda (Internal Auditor)
• Natacha Martins (IA Intern)
• Xolisile Sotushe (IA Intern)
• La-Chuney Jansen (Admin Intern)
• Sinovuyo Robile (Admin Intern)

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CAPTION: From Left: Zimasa Bulo (Senior Internal Auditor), Natacha Martins (Intern: Internal Audit), La- Chuney Jansen (Intern: Internal Audit), Sinovuyo Robile (Intern: Internal Audit), Jean-Pierre Rossouw (Chief Audit Executive), Heybré Ellis (Manager: Internal Audit), Xolisile Sotushe (Intern: Internal Audit) and Kloper Mabunda (Internal Auditor).