25 MARCH 2020
The City of uMhlathuze will abide by the national shutdown as proclaimed by the State President Hon. Cyril Ramaphosa amid the global Coronavirus scourge ravaging human kind. The national shutdown is aimed at curbing local transmissions in the country that are becoming more rapid by the day.
As per the constitutional mandate regulating the sphere of local government and directives of the proclamation and the national Disaster Management Act and Regulations, the City will provide basic services such as water, electricity, refuse removal and other essential and critical services under strict guidelines, noting that most municipal services are classified as essential services.
Municipal offices will be closed from Thursday, 26 March 2020 at 16h00 and open on Friday 17 April 2020 at 8am. The Municipality will be on standby for any further directives from the President and communicate with members of the public in case there are any changes to this.
Our 24 hours Municipal call centre will remain open to assist customers and members of the public during the lockdown period.
The City will also abide by Circular 6 of 2020 issued by the Minister of Cogta Hon. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and has cancelled all planned events of the municipality. This includes cancelling all events such as weddings, churches, social gatherings, etc. booked to take place in municipal facilities. Only gatherings such as funerals with a restricted number of not more than 100 people in attendance will be considered under strict supervision. The municipality will not allow any event to take place within its jurisdiction until all proclamations are uplifted.
The following Council facilities, public spaces and amenities will be closed immediately, until further notice:
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Swimming pools
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Beach bathing areas
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Libraries
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Community halls-except for funerals
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Museums and art galleries:
The following will be operational under prescribed conditions:
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Cemeteries, crematoria and funerals: during funerals, affected families will be encouraged to observe recommended hygiene practices and limit the number of mourners to family members only, or to restrict the mourners to not more than 100. The handling and disposal of human remains brought about as a result of the pandemic, must be done in terms of the guidelines and protocols that have been developed by the National Department of Health
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Events: municipal events will be indefinitely suspended
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Community gatherings besides funerals, such as weddings and social and traditional gatherings that will attract or have more than 100 people must be cancelled and stopped immediately.
For the period of the 21 days Lockdown, the City of uMhlathuze will not issue proof of residence letters to members of the public. Public members who may have an urgent need for this service must contact Councillors within their Wards.
Adherence to all these measures is of paramount importance to everyone. The City of uMhlathuze will be working closely with all relevant law enforcement authorities in enforcing all these measures.
“We welcome the announcement by the State President to lockdown the country as this is a necessary destruction of the Coronavirus to spread to local citizens. In the beginning of this scourge, the case definition was mainly on people who have a travel history but few weeks ago we have seen a change of the case definition to everyone who has engaged with the infected person,” says City Mayor Cllr Mduduzi Mhlongo.
“In the last few days, we have seen major and historic announcements that has never been seen in our country and the world, a complete shutdown of the country due to a virus. In turn, our reaction should be different as it calls for more vigilance, hygiene, adherence to the government instructions and to heed a call to be law-abiding citizens. We again urge everyone to postpone their normal lives for the 21 days period so that we stop the spread. We are called upon to practice social distance, wash hands with soap in running water for at least 20 seconds, clean surfaces, use sanitisers where there is no ways of washing of hands, use elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing, rather opt for a an elbow greeting, exercise through home gyms or home exercises and stay healthy at all times,” Mhlongo adds.
The city will ensured that provision of water would be made in the form of water tankers for areas without access to running water.
Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay safe, Stay Alert and Stay informed!
