MAZWI'S
DIARY
Culture
of learning in the gutter
As society’s watchdog, it is in our interest to keep tabs
on everything that happens around us. It is heartening
to see Cato Manor’s residents emulating the state president’s
hands-on attitude by embarking on a clean-up campaign
around the schools in the area.
Matric results have once again been disappointing. Bonela
dropped one notch from their previous best of 89% pass
rate, while Wiggins Secondary achieved a mediocre 37%,
and Chesterville a lousy 7%.
Frankly I didn't expect much from Chesterville High because
both the students and the teachers seem to attend school
for different reasons, none of which have much to do with
learning and teaching. Otherwise how do you explain closing
a high school at 2 pm, and at 12 noon on Fridays?
Until a culture of learning and teaching prevails I will
not keep my mouth shut. Education is still the bedrock
of any nation and matric is your passport to a better
life.
As if this was not enough, certain individuals are compounding
the problem. It has come to our attention that there is
a shop in KwaMasixhawulane that sells ‘authentic’ school
reports to all pupils who have failed their exams. It
is alleged that there are also teachers involved in this
scheme. The names of these "get-rich-quick"
individuals are known. Some of them are well placed community
leaders. Need we say more!
Parents should beware of their children suddenly wanting
to change schools. Insist on speaking to your child’s
class teacher and find out for yourself. Make it your
business to monitor your child’s progress at school. If
not, your child's future could be in the hands of theives.
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 Communities
to participate in city’s development planning
Plans
to transform the eThekwini Municipality into Africa’s most
caring municipality have been revealed. The eThekwini Council
has embarked on a process to develop a Long Term Development
Framework (LTDF) which maps out the council’s strategic
vision over the next 20 years, and an Integrated Development
Plan (IDP), which covers strategic development priorities
over the next five years.
 The
IDP, which will be launched in June, contains detailed management
plans which include budgets and performance indicators based
on programmes submitted by management.
Fundamental to the new way of doing business is the creation
of the area-based management and service delivery system,
where areas are planned and developed in consultation with
communities, thus providing an enabling environment for
citizens to take action to ensure that their needs are met.
A key component of the integrated development planning process,
therefore, is community participation.
Ward councillors have been mandated to nominate one person
in their ward to be trained as a community-based facilitator
who will be responsible for co-ordinating the community
consultation process.
Each area will be managed by an area team led by a co-ordinator
and a manager who will - together with the community - decide
and agree on the needs of the area. In this way development
budgets will be allocated according to the needs identified
by the communities themselves.
A
boost for local manufacturers
 Local
manufacturers who have a desire to succeed in business will
be heartened to know that the Umkhumbane Entreprenuerial
Support Centre (ESC) will commence business in March this
year. It will be housed temporarily at the newly opened
Intuthuko Junction at 750 Francois Road.
The ESCs main objective will be to provide support to manufacturers
through effective management skills training, where they
will learn skills including the art of bookkeeping, costing
and pricing and production processes.
Christian Sibongiseni Khumalo, a former business counsellor
and trainer with Swinton College, has been brought in to
ensure that Cato Manor residents receive the relevant business
skills.
Local manufacturers are priority number one on the list
of people who will receive support from the ESC because
most of them have a potential to create employement opportunities,
thus boosting the local economy. It is hoped that the support
given to manufacturers will put them in line to take advantage
of work opportunities offered by the city.
The ESC is an initiative between the CMDA, the European
Union, Unicity Durban and the CSIR. There are approximately
15 factory outlets that will be made available to local
manufacturers when the ESC moves to its permanent site in
Booth Road Central in 2003.
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