Day: November 4, 2022

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MEC Anton Bredell presents Western Cape of Local Government Annual Report 2021/22

Department of Local Government provides crucial support to municipalities.  

Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning presented the Annual Report for the Department of Local Government (DLG) for 2021/22 in the Provincial Parliament today.

“The DLG performed exemplary during the year under review.  This is evident in the fact that most of the councils in the Western Cape are stable, with critical positions, such as Municipal Managers, filled with competent staff, and basic services being delivered to residents throughout the Province,” Bredell said.

Bredell said the DLG was instrumental in making government accessible to citizens with its Thusong Centres. “1.3 million people accessed government through Thusong Centres throughout the province during the past year. Given our large rural areas, this service has proven to be invaluable in our efforts to bring government closer to the people.”

Progress was also made with the Joint District and Metro Approach (JDMA) initiative, which provides a framework for different spheres of government to plan and work together in a collaborative manner. Projects successfully developed include:

  • High mast lighting installed in Grabouw, with a reduction in the crime rate by 15 % within the 3 months after installation, according to crime statistics from the South African Police Service.
  • In the Cape Winelands District Municipality, a new Thusong Satellite Centre was built and equipped, creating a hub for the youth to have a safe place to gather and develop skills within the De Doorns area. This was done with the financial support from private sector partners Santam and Sasria of R4.5million.
  • In the Overberg District Municipality, a network of safe houses and soup kitchens are being established to provide safe spaces for woman, children, and vulnerable people.
     

Bredell said that all indications point to continuous population growth in the Western Cape. “These new citizens will reside in municipalities, and it is the responsibility of local authorities to plan and invest in infrastructure to meet the demand for basic services to all its residents. If managed well and planned for, more people will result in more opportunities for economic development and job creation.”

Bredell said the local government elections from 2021 resulted in several coalition councils, and this presented new challenges in terms of municipal oversight and governance responsibilities. “It is crucial that councillors understand the difference between being an elected councillor, in contrast to an appointed official working in the administration of a municipality. When these roles are blurred, we encounter problems with accountability, financial management and weak service delivery,” Bredell said.

Bredell thanked the Disaster Risk Management unit for the work it did during the floods in KwaZulu Natal (KZN). “Thank you for your unselfish, brave, and professional conduct in KZN. It not only me saying this. MEC Hlomuka, the KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs came to visit us personally earlier this year to thank the whole team.”

Source: Government of South Africa

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Western Cape Government adopts Inclusionary Housing Policy

A ground-breaking Inclusionary Housing Policy Framework, developed by the Western Cape Government, has been approved. This Policy Framework will help municipalities in the Western Cape to facilitate the inclusion of more affordable housing units in developments in our urban centres. This will be done in partnership with the private sector, creating more opportunities for people to live in better locations.

 Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, said the provincial government is working hard to tackle the challenge of housing and spatial inequality. “We want more affordable and inclusionary housing in well-located areas within our municipalities. Lower income households and lower to middle income households, including many of our essential workers, need easier access to economic opportunities and social amenities in our towns and cities. This is the foundation upon which the province has based its innovative new policy.”

The Policy Framework explains what inclusionary housing is, how it can support spatial transformation, where it can be utilised in the province, what the processes to follow are, who is responsible for what, and what the various policy considerations are.

Bredell said: “The introduction of inclusionary housing is complex, and it involves several role-players and stakeholders with consequences which are difficult to predict. There are currently no tried and tested models of inclusionary housing in South Africa to learn from. However, for the Western Cape Government the need to transform our cities and towns is non-negotiable. We are determined to be bold, whilst recognising the risks and uncertainties. It is not only a question of spatial transformation but also of economic growth. While not the only mechanism to promote well located affordable housing, this Policy Framework is an important first step for inclusionary housing and will most certainly evolve over time. We will look to municipalities, developers, landowners, civil society, academia, and non-governmental organisations to contribute towards its improvement as we build a body of evidence,” Bredell said. The Policy can be downloaded at: https://tinyurl.com/WCInclusionaryHousing

Source: Government of South Africa

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COP27 needs a tremendous focus on action, Commonwealth of Dominica looking to share scalable solutions

Roseau, Nov. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — There are a few days left until COP27 takes place in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November and the Commonwealth of Dominica, like many nations around the world, will be watching to see if this summit finally brings action and implementation of proposals and promises.

“We are at the stage where we can no longer use these events as talk shops, but rather, we need to be laser-focused and intentional about developing actionable plans to tackle the biggest challenge of our time – climate change,” says Dr. Vince Henderson, Dominica’s minister for planning, economic development, climate resilience, sustainable development, and renewable energy.

Small island nations like Dominica, are not the only countries facing extreme weather conditions as a result of global warming. UN Secretary-General António Guterres mentioned to journalists in New York recently that a third of Pakistan is flooded, Europe is experiencing its hottest summer in 500 years, the Philippines is dealing with the aftermath of tropical storm Paeng and in the United States, Category 4 Hurricane Ian was just another reminder of the climate crisis.

Dominica has been on a path to be the world’s first climate-resilient nation following Hurricane Maria which left an estimated 90 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed in 2019.

This year, at COP27, Dominica wants to showcase how it will reach climate resiliency by 2030. The country has implemented a number of projects that can be used as case studies that can be used as a flywheel of action.

“Everybody is talking about sustainability and climate change and why we need to reduce carbon emissions, the issue is how we are going to make a meaningful impact. For people to translate insight into action, they need to see good examples that motivate them, and we believe Dominica has an abundance of examples that are yielding results,” continues Minister Henderson.

In response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria, Dominica launched a climate resilience policy framework to help guide its recovery journey in the form of the National Resilience Development Strategy 2030 (NRDS).

The Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan of Dominica aim to build strong communities, build a robust economy, have a well-planned and durable infrastructure; strengthen institutional systems and, protect and sustain natural and other unique assets.

It centres around three pillars: structural resilience, financial resilience, and post-disaster resilience.

Structural resilience: The government of Dominica is building a resilient infrastructure capable of withstanding natural disasters, including Category 5 hurricanes. It includes the construction of 5 000 climate-resilient homes, healthcare centres, roads, bridges, airports, and schools.

Financial Resilience: The government of Dominica is implementing institutional fiscal reform to ensure stronger fiscal resilience which will aid in the strengthening of debt sustainability utilising several key institutional fiscal areas.

Post Disaster and Social Resilience: This pillar helps encourage farmers to plant more root crops which are more resilient to heavy rain and wind, and increases farmer training programmes and government assistance with the provision of seeds and fertilizers. The government’s plan to strengthen food security includes specific policies for the resiliency of the agriculture and fisheries industries.

With 2022 set to rank among the 10 warmest years on record, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dominica is also constructing a geothermal power plant which will increase the country’s share of renewables and diversify the country’s energy matrix. The Commonwealth of Dominica already obtains 28% of its energy requirements from renewable energy sources such as hydropower and wind.

The UN is urging the world’s industrialized nations to ‘lead by example’ by taking ‘bold and immediate actions’. One of these nations includes the United States of America and with President Joe Biden confirmed to attend, it is said he will build on the significant work the United States has undertaken to advance the global climate fight and help the most vulnerable build resilience to climate impacts.

Last year, Biden arrived at COP26 largely empty handed and this year he will promote the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that devotes hundreds of billions of dollars to clean energy initiatives and brings Biden’s pledge to cut United States emissions in half by 2030 closer within reach.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the group of nations that have signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was put together in 1992. It commits them to act together to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system”. Since then, the parties, or nations, have met almost annually.

COP26 was held in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November 2021 and it brought together 120 world leaders and representatives from almost 200 countries. It culminated in the Glasgow Climate Pact, which reaffirmed the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of “limiting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C”.

PR Dominica
Commonwealth of Dominica
001 (767) 266 3919
mildred.thabane@csglobalpartners.com
GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8689439
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Small Military Bombing Drone to Debut on AIRSHOW CHINA 2022

ZHUHAI, China, Nov. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The opening of the 14th China Airshow is coming soon. LoongUAV will bring a variety of cost-effective, efficient, lightweight military drones to debut, including LOONG 4 surveillance drone, LOONG 5 bombing drone, LOONG 1 targeting drone, LOONG 2 reconnaissance drone.

In recent years of local wars and armed conflicts, as an emerging air combat force, drones have highlighted their combat effectiveness. Equipping drones has become an effective means to enhance national defense strength at a lower cost.

There are various types of military drones, which can be divided into reconnaissance drones, combat attack drones, electronic countermeasure drones, decoy drones, target drones, and reconnaissance and striking drones. It can also be divided into large drones, medium drones, light drones, small drones, and micro drones by their size. Large UAVs like combat attack drones from China and USA are very expensive and have low combat efficiency. Certain Iranian UAVs have only a single function and are not recyclable. The cost for single use is more than hundreds of thousands of dollars. Although some Chinese consumer drones are low-priced, the battery life is short and the application scenarios are limited.

LOONG 5 Bombing Drone

This drone has low cost and high cost-effectiveness. It can carry six 60mm or four 82mm mortars, through a simple module installed on shells at a cost of less than $10, the accuracy of the bombs is within 3 meters, the maximum endurance time exceeds 240 minutes, and the maximum flight speed is 80km/h. The VTOL(Vertical Take-Off and Landing) technology is used to improve deployment maneuverability and optimize flight performance. With suicide attack capability, it can lock and track dynamic targets for precise strikes. It has strong stealth, is a low-slow and small target, has no heat source, and has a very small radar reflection surface, which can effectively avoid radar monitoring and is not easy to be shot down. And it has the strong anti-interference ability and super battlefield survivability, and the current anti-UAV technology cannot defend against it.

Visit www.loonguav.com for more information (includes 3 demo videos)

LoongUAV designs, develops, manufactures, and markets efficient tactical drones, and offers a wide range of tailored support services.  Our small military drones are cost-effective, efficient, lightweight, and capable of carrying large payloads over long distances.

For sales requests, please contact: [email protected], LoongUAV

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1937201/LOONG_5_Bombing_Drone.jpg