PRESS RELEASE 18 MARCH 2020
MOSSEL BAY MUNICIPALITY RESPONDS TO COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
EMBARGO: NONE
CAP: At a special council meeting on Wednesday, 18 March the full council agreed to a recess and delegated authority for the executive mayor and mayoral committee in consultation with the municipal manager.
Delegated authority was awarded in terms of the relevant legislation to the Executive Mayor, Alderman Harry Levendal, the Mayoral Committee in consultation with the Municipal Manager, Adv Thys Giliomee to make decisions during the recess period.
Should a lockdown be declared, the delegated authority will rest with the Executive Mayor in consultation with the municipal manager. Delegated authority was also awarded to the municipal manager to implement arrangements and ensure that measures are put in place to effectively deal with the effects of the state of disaster on both the employees of the Mossel Bay Municipality and the community they serve.
However, the full council will meet on March 31 to deliberate and approve the budget and integrated development plan.
Directly after the special council meeting a mayoral executive meeting was held.
Health and safety
• Municipal meetings are postponed preventing more than 100 people meeting in municipal venues
• All IDP Meetings are cancelled and the Mayoral Teas are postponed;
• Municipal personnel are prohibited from traveling outside Municipal borders. Special permission is required when travel is necessary and unavoidable.
• Where personnel need to travel in groups masks and gloves must be used while the driver must ensure the cab are sanitized daily;
• The municipal HR-department will facilitate the necessary staff training and manage the precautionary safety and protective measures necessary to safeguards the employees through the necessary supply chain processes
Community halls
• The bookings of Community Halls cancelled for this period of the state of disaster;
• Stringent measures of control and prevention should be taken with regards to gatherings of 100 people and more when using municipal facilities
• Visitors will henceforth be requested to register when entering municipal facilities as required to help with tracing;
• Senior Communication and Marketing Officer Nickey le Roux will be disseminating information on official municipal communication channels and with the assistance of the recognised media in Mossel Bay and the southern Cape region.
Communication
Council approved the use of social media for the instant and effective distribution of information. Council invited residents to join the Mossel Bay Municipality news site on Telegram (Mosselbaai Nuus/Mossel Bay News) to be assured of easily accessible, reliable, and confirmed information not only on the Covid-19 pandemic but also on other municipal news.
Furthermore, residents who have not yet furnished the municipality with a valid e-mail address are requested to do so by sending it to admin@mosselbay.gov.za
The municipality will, apart from formal media releases use emails and social media to communicate important messages as widely and effectively as possible.
Fake news
Residents are requested to access credible news sources for information on the pandemic and to refrain from passing on unvetted information that often turns out to be false. The scaremongers should stop their negative campaign to cause panic.
The mayor and municipal manager will next be appraised of a detailed contingency plan that will be informed by the municipal disaster risk management plan as well as the contingency plans by the department of health and provincial government, the entities responsible for healthcare.
Council was again reminded that the Garden Route District Municipality, the provincial government health and national department of health are responsible for healthcare and that Mossel Bay Municipality does not have a mandate in this regard.