The Mayoral Gala held in the Town Hall on 12 October 2012 to raise funds for the Mayoral Relief Fund was a resounding success and almost doubled the target was raised for this Fund which is used to provide relief to Mossel Bay residents in distress as well as to enable mainly underprivileged local children to participate in provincial sports, cultural or educational events.
 
“I cannot thank our sponsors as well as the public enough for their support. Our target for the event was R150 000 and to have almost doubled this shows just how much compassion and goodwill there still are in our society.
 
“We live in difficult economic times and I am inundated annually with requests for support from people who, for example, have escaped from devastating house or shack fires with little more than the clothes on their bodies. When these unfortunate and often tragic events occur, the Municipality is almost always the first institution to which the victims turn to for help.
 
“Talented young people from poor families who get the opportunity to represent their school or club at provincial or national level also often approach my office as their families are unable to afford their participation.
 
“The sponsors as well as the public who have bought tickets for the Gala can rest assured that they have supported a most worthy cause. The funds raised will go a long way towards helping many people in real need in the next year. We are prohibited by law from using municipal funds for purposes such as these and therefore have to rely on donations and fundraising events such as these to supplement the fund.” said the Executive Mayor, Alderlady Marie Ferreira.

Two platinum sponsorships of R50 000 each were received from the ATKV and Standard Bank respectively.
 
PetroSA, Business Engineering and CVW Consulting Engineers took up gold sponsorships of R30 000 each, while silver sponsors at R20 000 each were the Point Hotel, MeyerOtto Inc Chartered Accountants, Royal Haskoning DHV Consulting Engineers and New Adventure Plant Hire and Civils. Bronze sponsorships were given by MVD Consulting Engineers, ABSA Bank and Vela-VKE Consulting Engineers.
 
Other sponsors were Mark E Jewellers (donation of prize valued at R15 000), Point Village Hotel (R10 000), Henra Civil Contractors (R5 000), Mossel Bay Advertiser and Jakkalsvlei Private Cellar.
 
Donors who are interested in making a contribution to the Fund can contact the office of the municipal manager at telephone (044) 606-5003 or by e-mail at admin@mosselbay.gov.za.