Back from left to right:  Mr Jeremy Matheyse (Area Commissioner Drakenstein Correctional Services), Pieta Koopman (winner of the inaugural 27 For Freedom Run 27km route) and Alderman C.W Johnson (Deputy Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality).
Front from left to right:  Vevani Lusasini (3rd in the inaugural 27 For Freedom Run 27km route) and Avukile Ngongama 2nd in the inaugural 27 For Freedom Run 27km route).
Photo Credit:  www.oakpics.com

Thousands of proud South Africans gathered at Drakenstein Correctional Services (former Victor Verster Prison) just outside of Paarl on Saturday, 13 February 2010 to show their support at the inaugural 27 For Freedom Run presented by the Cape Winelands District Municipality and Drakenstein Correctional Services.

According to Pieta Koopman, winner in the men’s category of the 27 for Freedom Run 27km race, he had an amazing race.  “I really enjoyed today’s race, the route was really nice.  The concept behind this race is awesome, things can only get better from here,” says Koopman who completed the race in a remarkable time of 01hour32minutes03seconds.  Avukile Ngongama came in second, while Vevani Lusasini finished third.

Bulelwa Mtshagi was victorious in the women’s category of the 27 for Freedom Run 27km race when she crossed the finish line in an impressive time of 01hour47minutes49seconds.  According to Mtshagi the race was just perfect.  “I love running off-road and we did a lot of that today.  I was pleasantly surprised by the number of entrants that the 27km race attracted and there was such a nice atmosphere amongst the runners.  I think this event is a brilliant way to bring the history of our country to our children.  I will most definitely be back next year to defend my title,” says Mtshagi.  Farwa Mentoor came in second, while Marlene Hannes finished third.Tom Lusaseni secured himself a first place in the men’s category of the 27 for Freedom Run 10km race, followed by Dicardo Jacobs in second place, while Enrico Rooi finished third.  Mari Rabie crossed the finish line first in the women’s category of the 27 for Freedom Run 10km race, followed by Vuyisi Seti in second place, while Louisa Hendricks finished third.

According to Deputy Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Alderman C.W. Johnson, the race turnout was tremendous.  “The 27 for Freedom Run provided the Cape Winelands District Municipality and Drakenstein Correctional Services with the perfect opportunity to build social cohesion and test our ability to partner and host a superb social gathering.  I am really happy with the logistics and event management team in putting together such a memorable event.  It is amazing to think that it has been twenty years since Mr Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison and liberated us all,” says Mr Johnson.

Participants of the inaugural 27 For Freedom Run presented by the Cape Winelands District Municipality and Drakenstein Correctional Services could choose between a 27km, 10km, 10km wheelchair route and 5km run.  All four events started and finished at Drakenstein Correctional Services.

For more information on the 27 for Freedom Run please contact Stillwater Sport and Entertainment on (021) 883 – 2413 or e-mail info@stillwatersports.com or visit www.stillwatersports.com.

The inaugural 27 For Freedom Run presented by the Cape Winelands District Municipality and the Drakenstein Correctional Services will take the Winelands by storm on Saturday, 13 February 2010.
This exciting event will start and finish at Drakenstein Correctional Services (just outside Paarl) and participants can choose between an exciting 27km, 10km or 5km route as well as a 10km wheelchair route.  The brainchild of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, who partnered with Drakenstein Correctional Services, the 27 For Freedom Run aims to commemorate the 27 years that Mr. Nelson Mandela spent in prison for campaigning against apartheid.  The race will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his release from the then Victor Verster Prison, where he spent the last 18 months of his 27-year sentence. 
Popular South African actor, singer and producer Emo Adams will entertain the crowds from 11h00 – 12h30 on the day.  Best known for his collaborations with David Kramer and the late Taliep Pietersen, Emo Adams’ love for theatre and his journey into the world of the performing arts began at the early age of 9.  Athletes and spectators can look forward to a humorous and entertaining performance by this South African legend.  In addition to this exciting performance, top International Hip Hop Dancers  will wow the crowds with their awe-inspiring and energetic dance routines, followed by an awe-inspiring performance by young, local artist Zolani. 

This magnificent event will also see 1500 children from local rural areas joining in the fun and showing their support on the day under the guidance of the Love Life Foundation.  The Foundation also has loads of fun activities planned to keep the young ones entertained on the day.   All children are invited to build up their strength before the race by enjoying a scrumptious breakfast in the Bokomo Breakfast Zone. 

COST:   27km – R80
              10km wheelchair race – R40
              10km – R40
              5km – R27
School entries - R5 per scholar
START: 27km – 06h30
              10km wheelchair race – 08h00
              10km – 08h00
               5km – 09h00

Entrants and spectators stand a chance to win magnificent lucky draw prizes that includes a Big 5 Safari for two at Fairy Glen Game Reserve, a spectacular Vuka Scuta, Willow Creek Gift Sets, Paddagang Wine, breakaways to Ou Kraal Guest House, Brakkies B&B and Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve and more. 

Due to popular demand, event entries will stay open and will also be accepted on Race Day at NO additional cost!
 
For more information, race rules or to enter, please contact Stillwater Sport and Entertainment on (021) 883 – 2413 or e-mail info@stillwatersports.com or visit www.stillwatersports.com

I, Alderman Badih Chaaban, Executive Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, am proud to announce the 1st race, 27 for Freedom that celebrate the release from prison of South Africa’s most recognised political icon in the world, Mr.Nelson Rohlilala Mandela.

Through this race, the annual running calendar will receive an adrenaline boost early in the New Year with the launch of the commemorative 27 For Freedom Run presented by the Cape Winelands District Municipality and the Drakenstein Correctional Services.

The run will take place on Saturday, 13 February 2010 at the Drakenstein Correctional Services (former Victor Verster Prison, just outside Paarl).  Participants can choose between an exciting 27km, 10km or 5km route as well as a 10km wheelchair route.  The brainchild of the Cape Winelands District Municipality who partnered with Drakenstein Correctional Services, the 27 For Freedom Run aims to commemorate the 27 years that Mr. Nelson Mandela spent in prison for campaigning against apartheid.  The race will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his release from the then Victor Verster Prison, where he spent the last 18 months of his 27 year sentence.  Through this race we hope to acknowledge and celebrate the road that all South Africans have travelled since that memorable day in 1990. 

According to Mr Jeremy Matheyse, Area Commissioner of Drakenstein Correctional Services, the goal of the race is to invite people from all walks of life to follow the footsteps of Madiba, hence the inclusion of a 27km race – a kilometre for every year he spent in prison.  “Furthermore we wish to create a platform for ordinary people to commemorate the 20th year of freedom for former President Nelson Mandela and to honour him for his contributions towards building a true non-racial and democratic society, a turning point in the history of South Africa,” says Mr Matheyse.

In August 2008, a statue of Mr. Nelson Mandela, aptly named the Long Walk to Freedom Statue, was unveiled by the Tokio Sexwale Foundation at Drakenstein Correctional Services as a symbol of Freedom and Achievement.  The 27 For Freedom Run presented by the Cape Winelands District Municipality and the Drakenstein Correctional Services will start at this statue.  Participants can look forward to viewing the house in which Nelson Mandela lived for the last 18-months before his release.  The house was declared a National Heritage Site in July 2008.

DATE:  Saturday, 13 February 2010
VENUE:  Drakenstein Correctional Services (outside Paarl)
DISTANCE:  27km, 10km or 5km run/walk as well as a 10km wheelchair route
COST:   27km – R80
              10km wheelchair race – R40
              10km – R40
                5km – R27
School entries - R5 per scholar

START: 27km – 06h30 
             10km wheelchair race – 08h00
             10km – 08h00
               5km – 09h00

The first 500 entries will receive a commemorative ‘27 For Freedom Run’ t-shirt.  To enter visit www.stillwatersports.com or contact 021 883 – 2413.

Click Here to Enter Online

Entries close on Sunday, 07 February 2010.

For more information, race rules or to enter please contact Stillwater Sport and Entertainment on (021) 883 – 2413 or e-mail info@stillwatersports.com or visit www.stillwatersports.com.

The resent Empowerdex Services Delivery Index (MUNIDEX) has placed Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM) under the top five performing district municipalities nationwide. CWDM was rated position 4 out of 46 district municipalities. The score was evaluated on five service delivery factors which are water, sanitation, housing, electricity and waste removal.

The five service delivery elements were equally weighted at a maximum of 20 points consisting of 10 points for current status and 10 points for improvements over time. The status index was based on the current proportion of the households that have access to particular services while the improvement index was based on the percentage change of the households with access to particular services. Scores were calculated based on improvements compared to the percentage increase nationally.

Namakwa in the Northern Cape (82.9 points) was the only district to score above 80 points for the overall delivery of all five essential services. Fisile Dabi Municipality from the Free State came  second with (76.80 points) while Eden from the Western Cape came the third ( 72 position)  followed by the Cape Winelands at the fourth position (70.30), As with the local municipalities, the bottom five performing districts were from the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal.

Three of the five best performing districts, based on actual delivery, are located in the Western Cape. The Cape Winelands District Municipality has gained respect and recognition for many of achievements that deserve mentioning: six years of unqualified audits; the Vuna Award for best district municipality in the Province; the best Fire Service training in SADEC; the Best housing Award for Lanquedoc and, for being the first municipality to institute Rural and Social Development Directorate. 

CWDM recently has been acknowledged by the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs for its role on District Economic Development; Pplanning and Facilitation; Intergovernmental Relations and being a model for Sustainable Development.

The office of the Municipal Manager is inundated with numerous requests from various districts across the country for peer to peer exchange and learning’s on various areas.

For further information regarding this matter, please contact Rowena Kellies on 021 - 888 5202 or e-mail rowena@capewinelands.gov.za.

The Cape Winelands District Municipality, together with its five local municipalities heralded in a new era for women's empowerment in the district with the launch of its first ever forum for women councillors and officials.  This event took place on Friday, 28 August 2009 at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates in Paarl.  In her welcome address the Executive Mayor of Drakenstein Municipality regarded the location for the launch as befitting the thrust of emancipation propelling this forum, since it neighbours the prison where former President Nelson Mandela ended his journey of incarceration by the apartheid government.

Women from all over the district joined in the memorable occasion that was hosted by the Speaker of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Cllr. Mpumi Hani.  In her opening remarks she emphasised that the forum, although consisting of women councillors and officials, has a particular agenda focused on the empowerment of women across the district. 

Cllr. Chrissie Brink from the district municipality provided a background and overview on the establishment of the forum.  The SALGA Gender Conference held on the 27th and 28th September 2006 and many other engagements before that resulted in the resolution that:
"SALGA and its member municipalities must set up well-resourced gender machinery/structures (Women's Caucuses, Gender Section 79 Committees and the gender focal points/desks) to implement the SALGA Local Government Gender Policy."

After engaging with the local municipalities and SALGA (South African Local Government Association), it was resolved that women councillors and officials need to influence the direction and speed of service delivery and the acceleration of the transformation agenda of government much more strongly than presently.  The women councillors and officials of the Cape Winelands District Municipality and the local municipalities in the region, including Breede Valley, Breederiver Winelands, Witzenberg, Drakenstein and Stellenbosch Municipalities resolved to establish an advocacy and lobbying structure that represents the interest of women in the Cape Winelands. 

The Forum aims to advocate and lobby for the mainstreaming of gender considerations into service delivery objectives of each municipality located in the jurisdiction of the Cape Winelands through inter alia:

1. Monitoring the development and execution of appropriate policies and mechanisms that enable municipalities to reach employment equity targets as intended by the National Gender Machinery to ensure equal participation of women at all levels of decision making. 
2. Lobbying for the enhancement of women's capacity and skills in the administration, Council and communities to bargain effectively during IDP and Budgeting processes of their municipalities.
3. Advocating for Procurement policies of local government to ensure that they have due regard for gender equity, and that issues of multiple disadvantage are considered.
4. Lobbying for special programmes to fight the pandemic of HIV/AIDS.
5. Lobbying for the removal or modification of physical infrastructure that increases women's vulnerability to rape and physical violence. The accessibility of basic services such as water and electricity is particularly relevant here. 
6. Advocating strongly against sexual harassment.
7. Participating in the development of Gender Action Plans for the municipalities and monitoring the implementation thereof.

Cllr. Brink introduced the name of the forum as "Women's Fair Share: A Cape Winelands Women in Local Government Forum".  She said, "Of course a great deal of unashamed sentiment went into the selection of a name for this structure.  With this name we acknowledge the long and painful history of the oppression and denial of basic human rights that women have had to endure in this country.  It is an admission that many women are still suffering all sorts of deprivation, neglect, abuse and exploitation.  Despite our painful past (and present) we still expect no more than our equitable share of pain and struggle in experiencing the rebirth of our democratic country.  We also expect no less of the advantages and fruits of our beautiful country."

In her address Reverend Nomzi Teto advised women to value themselves and support each other.  In her experience, women councillors are sometimes judged and criticised much more harshly then their male counterparts. Therefore women should rather find common ground through engaging and participating in a forum like this. 

The objective of developing and implementing a Gender Action Plan is particularly relevant to enhance community women's contribution to local government through the support of Gender-based forums in the Cape Winelands.

This forum will meet on a quarterly basis and each municipality will be required to report on a set of indicators that will be developed as part of the Gender Action Plan which will be consulted with community stakeholders in the near future.

THE BEST DISTRICT MUNCIPALITY IN THE PROVINCE

The Cape Winelands District Municipality came out tops in this year’s Western Cape performance excellence assessment for local government and was awarded the Vuna award by Pierre Uys, MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning.

The Cape Winelands won trophies for excellence in Institutional transformation and Institutional development, service delivery and Good Governance and thus the overall Districts Category Award that was accompanied by R750 000 prize money.  The Council’s excellence has been demonstrated by five consecutive unqualified audits and a Performance Management System that is in demand. The performance management system of the Cape Winelands has been introduced in three Free State municipalities as a pilot project for the Department of Provincial and Local government.

The Cape Winelands District Municipality has previously been runners up for the awards for two consecutive years. One of the Municipalities within the district, Drakenstein Municipalities was awarded for excellent service delivery. 
All municipalities were assessed on:

• Infrastructure Development and Basic Service Delivery
• Local Economic Development
• Municipal Transformation and Institutional Development
• Financial Viability
• Good Governance

MAYCO CELEBRATES VUNA AWARDS: The Mayoral Committee meeting held on 26 November at Worcester in the Council Chambers, celebrated the Vuna Awards that marked the selection of the Cape Winelands District Municipality as the best district in the Western Cape. Present at the meeting were (back, from left) Mr Faizel Toefy (Director: Performance Management), Dr Zandile Mahlangu (Executive Director: Community and Developmental Services); Ms Kelcy Le Keur (Executive Director: Regional Planning and Development Services), Cllr Conwal du Plessis (Mayco Member), Mr Gwebinkundla Qonde (Executive Director: Corporate Services), Mr Ben Niewoudt (Manager; Shared Services), Mr Gawie Marais (Executive Director: Financial Management Services), (infront, from left): Cllr Chrissie Brink (Mayco Member), Mr Mike Mgajo (Municipal Manager of CWDM), Cllrs Clarence Johnson (Executive Mayor of CWDM), Lilian Jantjies (Deputy Mayor of CWDM) and Cllr Pamela Swangaza (Mayco Member). Pic: Samantha Opperman

Click here to read more.

Hand over: The Drakenstein Correctional Services presented the Executive Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Councilor Clarence Johnson and his Mayoral Committee with a clock watch that was made in a workshop that the District Municipality funded.  Receiving the clock watches were (from the left) Mr Kosie Sinclair (Area Commissioner: Allendale), clr Chrissie Brink, Pastor Jerome Samuels (Chaplain: Drakenstein), Mr Jeremy Matheyse (Area Commissioner: Drakenstein), Mr Ivan Jelander, workshop manager:Drakenstein), cllrs. Edmund Pheko, Clarence Johnson (Executive Mayor of CWDM), Mike Mgajo (Municipal Manager), Spasie Kika, Lillian Jantjies (Deputy Executive Mayor), Zinzo Mthini, Conwal du Plessis.

The Cape Winelands District Municipality made a contribution in aid of the Vukukhanye Community Project (Rise & Shine) to the Department of Correctional Services, Drakenstein Management Area. Drakenstein Management Area is a division that initiated the project.

The purpose of the Vukukhanye Project was to train young people from previous disadvantaged communities in order to reduce unemployment, poverty and improve the quality of life of the youth. A total number of fifty participants were able to complete the project. The youth came from various places that included Mbekweni, Chicago, Lantana, Fairyland and Franschhoek.

The Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, Clr Clarence Johnson, expressed the District’s pride in being part of this youth empowerment project. “This is in line with our vision of ensuring that we innovate, share and grow together,” said Johnson.

The Vukukhanye Project was under the auspices of the Area Commissioner, Mr Kosie Sinclair. The participants came in every Saturday from 8 until 1 o’clock for a period of ten months and were trained by correctional officials and offenders.

This project aimed to equip the youth with the necessary skills through training in the following diverse fields: cabinet making, furniture polishing, upholstering, garmet making textile, welding, clothing, catering and electrical. Stakeholders for this project included: the Cape Winelands District Municipality, the Department of Correctional Services, and Six Bar Trading.

Pastor Jerome Samuels, Chaplain from the Drakenstein Management Area said: “The project have enabled the participants to equip themselves and thus made them employable in the business sectors. Numerous participants have also been placed in the field that they have received training.”

Drakenstein management area also has a well-equipped workshop where offenders are trained in the following: mechanics, upholstery, wood machining, furnisher manufacturing, welding, fitting and turning, spray painting and sheet metalwork.

The Vukukhanye Project was nominated by the Department of Correctional Services nationally for the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) Annual Public Sector Innovations Award in the category of Innovative partnership in service delivery (Government and NGO/CBO and government to government). The department is currently awaiting feedback about the nomination.