Diakonia Durban Good Friday Easter Service 2008

"Diakonia", a Greek word meaning “service”, is a shared ministry to serve God in suffering people, in the poorest, in those most in need.

Theme: "Who is my Neighbour?"

Human Rights Day and Good Friday combine in Easter Service

In a long-standing tradition established by Diakonia Council of Churches in 1985, the Good Friday Service 2008 will be held at the Durban Exhibition Centre on 21 March commencing at 06h15.

It is a remarkable day as this date also coincides with Human Rights Day, and in keeping with the theme, the guest preacher, Fr Albert Nolan OP, will be preaching on "Who is my Neighbour?".

Over the years the Good Friday Services have become a landmark event in the life of the city and our member churches, with many thousands of people attending and joining in the procession which follows through the streets of Durban and ends at the front steps of the City Hall, with a flowering of the cross.

A gallery of images from the 2007 Good Friday Service.

Halala Bokke, Halala!

The World Cup Rugby Match on Saturday night only lasted some 80 minutes and then the Stade de France exploded with lights and embraces and tears and a rather bemused looking President Mbeki being hoisted up on the shoulders of the rugby players - after being shunned by Wilkenson and other members of the England team in the line.

So the Boks have manged to hold on and "bring the Cup" home. The William Webb Ellis trophy belongs to South Africa for the next four years, but what kind of team will we see then? Many of these players are laaities and will still be cooking in four years. Hopefully we will see more black players, now that the old white guys in rugby administration are blessedly dying out from clogged arteries and other ailments of white privilege.

For me the best thing about this Rugby World Cup was the Green Fever that spread through the land. By Saturday, everyone was well and truly infected - from home owners to car guards; old, young, rich poor, black white - wherever you looked you saw Bok flags and jerseys.

It felt so good - just for a little while - to have over 40 million South Africans pulling for the same side! We still have a long road to walk on our transformation journey, but on Saturday, I was so achingly aware of how far we had already come.

eThekwini Small Business Fair Deadline on 30 July

With just a few days to go before the July, 30, deadline, smmes are reminded to register to participate in the eThekwini Municipality’s main Small Business Fair.

The eThekwini Municipality’s Business Support Unit (BSU) is going full steam ahead with plans to make the Main Small Business Fair in September the best ever. The fair, supported by the Durban Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Small Enterprise Development Agency has built up a reputation of being the region’s leading event catering to the needs of emerging enterprises in a broad number of sectors.

After successfully hosting seven regional fairs in partnership with the INK, SDB and Rural Area Based Management teams, they are now calling on smme’s to register to participate in the Main fair that will be held at the Durban Exhibition Centre, on 28 –30 September.

“With the success of the seven regional fairs behind us, we are going full steam ahead with plans to ensure that this years main SMME fair adds better value, with more networking and development opportunities,” said Philip Sithole, Acting Head, BSU.

Sithole said, ’We are expecting 300 hundred exhibitors to participate in the main fair that are organized solely to give smaller businesses a much-needed boost with opportunities to network and learn under one roof.
“As with previous years, the fair focuses strongly on creating sustainable business linkages between SMMEs and major industry and government departments.”

“We are also inviting established smmes with some degree of success to also participate in the fair as it is not only for the emerging entrepreneur,” he added. ‘the business linkage programme aims to link suitable smmes with big business, and for that you need to be able to deliver to the demands of big business.”

Participation from our sister cities, and a buyers programme on the cards for the main September fair, so make sure you don’t miss out.

SMMEs interested in participating in the fairs can contact Ikhono Communication on telephone (031) 266 9937/8 or email lindani@ikhonokzn.co.za.

Hurry up and Register for the 2007 SMME Fair

2010 Stadium Durban - Moses Mabhida Stadium

There is no doubt that the people of eThekwini have the ability and capacity to stage huge events, but I'm certainly looking forward to the new Moses Mabidha stadium. I've seen the artist's impressions and pictures of the model and they look slick and space-age - like a video game.

What fascinates me on a day to day basis is the cranes on the building site. I've never seen so many in one place at one time. According to all reports we are ahead of schedule. I took these pics last week, just as the sun was setting.

KZN Regional Call Centre Awards 2007

Daly Management Team (L to R) Connie Swart, Key Accounts Executive; Andy McNabb, MD, Bill Daly, Chairman; Faeema Khan, Project Manager; Sunitha Pillay, Project Manager; Engela De Villiers, Operations Director; (front) Wiseman Ndlovu, Key Accounts Executive.

Daly Contact Centre (RL Daly Inc) walked away with one of the coveted prizes at the KZN Regional Call Centre Awards 2007 on Friday night and secured a place in the National finals.

The KZN Regional Call Centre Awards 2007, under the auspices of KZNonSource, took place at the Imax Theatre in Gateways Theatre of shopping on Friday 6 July.

More than 30 companies and organisations were represented in the ten categories in this glittering occasion.

Regional finalists will be visited by the national judges in the build up to the finals, which are scheduled to take place in KwaZulu-Natal on 13 October at the International Convention Centre. (Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre).

Creating employment and growing the provincial skills base is the major focus of KZNonSource, a local government initiative with a mission to facilitate the establishment of call centres in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal to meet clients and their customer needs.

Daly Contact Centre (R.L. Daly inc.) one of the industry leaders in KwaZulu-Natal walked off with the coveted award of Best Outbound Campaign for Standard Bank Credit Card Live.

“At present we have a 180 seat facility in Mt Edgecombe and we are looking forward to moving to our new, custom built 500 seater facility down Flanders Drive, this September. This is a win-win industry in all ways. We are able to create jobs; provide people with new and sustainable skills and stimulate and grow the local economy,” says Andy Mc Nabb, MD of RL Daly Inc.

An independent study recently showed that Durban proved to be 15% more cost effective than both Cape Town and Johannesburg and has a significant edge over the other two cities with regard sales-based outbound calls.

President Thabo Mbeki’s announcement in the State of the National Address this year about the focus on telecommunications, the DTI has set business process outsourcing and off-shoring (BPO&O) as one of the top three priority sectors to stimulate growth within its Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative (ASGI-SA). This sector has been identified for its potential to attract offshore investment and create employment opportunities in the economy.

Durban Mayor calls for the promotion of Beach Soccer

The third FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup has started in Durban, and is the first of six qualifying events for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to be held from November 2 to 11 this year in Rio.

The Beach World Cup is the first of six qualifying events leading up to the FIFA World Cup in 2010.The final competition will be held at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro where the top 16 teams will battle it out

The Mayor of eThekwini, Councillor Obed Mlaba has thrown down the gauntlet to other KZN municipalities by calling on them to promote beach soccer among the youth. His call comes at a time when Durban is currently playing host to eight African teams taking part in the qualifying rounds of the 2007 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup to be played in Brazil later this year.

Mlaba who is also the Provincial Chairperson of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) in KZN, said although having access to beaches was an advantage; municipalities could also provide temporary sand pitches. He said this would afford youths from neighboring municipalities an opportunity to take part in prestigious Beach Soccer tournaments such as the 2009 Beach Soccer World Cup to be played in Durban.

In 2006 the FIFA Beach Soccer Organizing Committee voted Durban as the best beach soccer venue after Rio de Janeirio.

For more information contact: Siyabonga Maphumulo
Writer, eThekwini Communications
(031) 311 2071
082 3034243
maphumulosiya@durban.gov.za

Second International Halaal Conference for Africa

The success of the first international Halaal conference held in Durban has led to Halaal authority SANHA once more planning to converge Halaal role players in the industry at Africa's Big Seven (AB7) in July 2007. The second international Halaal Conference will feature speakers from the US, Netherlands, Malawi, Malaysia and New Zealand, as well as local South African speakers.

The Indian government has chosen Africa's Big Seven (AB7), an annual event staged in Johannesburg at Gallagher Estate, as its chosen portal into Africa, becoming a partner nation to the AB7 2007 show. SANHA has endorsed the initiative to promote ‘The Halaal World' concept on Monday, 16 July 2007, 8am – 5pm in the Grill Room.

read more

Where are the Sardines?

One question that is on everyone's lips is WHERE ARE THE SARDINES?

On route from the cold Eastern Cape to the warm KwaZulu-Natal waters for winter, but exactly where?

Yip, it's that time of the year again, time for the Sardine Run - the Greatest Shoal on Earth, which sees people going crazy, running down to the beach with buckets and nets and cameras - anything to catch the little fish or capture the madness that is the annual Sardine Run.

Like most developments in the waters along our coast, the Natal Sharks Board keeps track of things, and the sardine run interests them because the sardines are usually followed by predator fish.

So if you want to know the answer to the question, call the Sardine Hotline 082 2849495

DA COUNCILLOR JOHN STEENHUISEN LIES IN A SWORN AFFADAVIT

Yes, it is tue the street renaming saga in Durban is now heating up even more with the release to this statement yesterday by Dr. Michael Sutcliffe, City Manager: eThekwini:

In a sworn statement provided as motivation for an application made by the Democratic Alliance to halt the renaming process, Councillor John Steenhuisen claims that the organizers of the 2010 Football World Cup “have requested the respondent (eThekwini municipality) not to go ahead with the renaming at least until that event takes place because maps with the existing names have already been distributed overseas”.

Whilst the municipality will respond to the application as a whole at a later stage, given that the DA has sought to publicise their court bid through linking renaming with the 2010 FIFA Football World Cup, FIFA and the LOC, it is important that that matter is corrected.

For the record, FIFA and the LOC have never made any such representations to the municipality. I have been assured by the CEO of the LOC, Dr. Danny Jordaan that they have never contemplated such actions.

Why Steenhuisen deems it necessary to lie under oath is a matter which will be investigated as I have reported him to the Speaker for making such untruthful statements.

Durban street renaming deadline extended to 25 June

The deadline for submitting street renaming proposals in Durban has been extended to 25 June.

At the same Council meeting, council also approved the Masakhane Committee's recommendation that the street naming policy be amended to replace “consultation with addressees” with “consultation with ward committees”. So, instead of canvassing the opinions of those who live in affected streets, communities will be represented and consulted by their ward committees on the process.

Communities must now submit fresh proposals, even for streets and other infrastructure that was not included in the previously published list. And people can still make comments on the existing list. At the multi-party meeting the Council Speaker James Nxumalo said: “ We want to ensure the process is participatory, something we have tried to ensure from the start. We therefore urge the public to send their comments and proposals”.

The new names need not refer only to political heroes, but can include people who have helped make the lives of eThekwini residents better, through sport, art, music, or any other field of human endeavour.

The extension of the deadline gives people another chance to make their choices.

T he ward committees will analyse the proposed names and make comments, suggestions, criticisms and approvals, as well as presenting alternative proposals. They will also be free to propose any other streets, roads, freeways or buildings to be renamed, as a way of honouring the country’s heritage, and helping to transform the city.\

Their recommendations will then be channelled to the street renaming task team, which will in turn collate all the relevant facts and scrutinise the submissions. These fine-tuned submissions will then be forwarded to the multi-party Masakhane Committee for further deliberations. Thereafter, they will submit a report to the city council’s executive committee.

Proposals must be forwarded to corporategis@durban.gov.za or to the
Municipal Manager, 41
Margaret Mncadi Avenue,
2nd Floor, Rennie House,
Durban, 4001.

Proposals can also be faxed to 031 311 4024.

Durban Beachfront start for Zulu Rally South Africa 2007

The three-day Zulu Rally, which roars into action at Durban's Bay of Plenty on the Beachfront next weekend, is set to bring plenty of high-octane action to the doorsteps of local motor sport enthusiasts.

Inanda and Richmond locals, in particular, will get an up-close taste of the sport.

Paul Godwin, the Rally's Operations Manager, said the event would cover a rugged 289km stretch around Inanda and Richmond.

Zulu Rally South Africa 2007, Africa's candidate event for inclusion in the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship, is largely regarded as an event not to be missed by a large majority of rally competitors and sports an impressive line up of international competitors.

A field of about 65 cars is expected at the ceremonial start, at the Bay of Plenty, including the cream of the country’s rallying fraternity, said Godwin.

He advised fans to look out for team Castrol Toyota’s Serge Damseaux and Johnny Gemmel, as well as BP Volkswagen’s Enzo Kuun, Hergen Fekken and Jannie Habig, all from KwaZulu-Natal. Also expected is Charl Wilken in the latest Subaru from Britain.

Spectators will be able to get near the race from the N2 Sibaya or the M4 Umdloti off ramps, and at the Sibaya entrance.

Read more about the Zulu Rally South Africa 2007.

Durban Name Changes - Comments Close Friday 11 May

The Closing date for comments for the proposed street name changes in Durban is Friday 11 May 2007.

City Manager Urges Residents to Submit Comments

eThekwini City Manager, Michael Sutcliffe explains the way in which Council agreed to review the names of streets and buildings in Durban and urges the public to continue providing comments for or against specific name changes.

1. In February, the council agreed on a process to review and finalise names for streets and facilities in our city. It required inviting comments from the public, and the relevant council committee reviewing names received and making a recommendation to council. All political parties represented in council accepted this process and through this, accepted there would be renaming.

2. Adverts were placed in newspapers on 9 March calling on the public to submit proposals. Posters were also placed at Sizakala centres and libraries. The public was encouraged to e-mail, fax, post or hand-deliver proposals to these centres. The closing date for submissions was 30 March. 245 proposals were received.

3. I recommended to the committee that before they consider every proposal received, they publish the proposed names to ensure the public would have an opportunity to air their views on every name under consideration, to allow for greater participation.

4. More than 95% of the objections received to date have objected to the principle of renaming. Given that the council unanimously accepted that some streets would be renamed, there is little point in the public sending in general complaints that they don’t want streets renamed. The council has accepted some streets will be renamed and it is unlikely the council will rescind that decision, so I urge the public to provide specific comment in support, or against, specific renaming suggestions.

5. Some streets have more than one proposed name or one name has been suggested for more than one street or facility.

6. eThekwini has more than 30 000 street names, with more than 4 000 in the former Durban central area. Even if all the proposals were to be accepted by the committee, this would mean less than 1% of the city’s street names would be changed.

People or organisations who have an interest in the proposal are invited to submit comments, suggestions, criticism and approval in writing to the addresses below. As contemplated in the Systems Act Section 21 (4): “any person who cannot write may come during office hours to a place where a staff member of the municipality named in the invitation will assist that person to transcribe his/her comments or representations”. This assistance is available at the Regional/Sizakala Centres of the eThekweni Municipality.

Comments to be sent to : Municipal Manager, 41 Margaret Mncadi Avenue, Durban 4001; OR Email:corporategis@durban.gov.za or Fax : 031 311 4024

The closing date for comments is Friday 11 May 2007.

View the proposed name changes

SMME Fairs in Durban Grow Entrepreneurs

The South Durban Basin (SDB) Small Business Fair at Umlazi Mega City was a great success according to the organisers. It was the first of six SMME Fairs for 2007.

The eThekwini Municipality’s Business Support Unit (BSU) in partnership with the area-based management (ABM) teams in Inanda, KwaMashu, Ntuzuma (INK) and various rural areas will be bringing similar fairs to their own areas in the coming months. This weekend’s South Durban Fair and the upcoming INK fair have been limited to 200 exhibitors, while the three one-day rural fairs will attract some 50 exhibitors each and will focus more on workshops and information sharing. These will all be held at venues that are easily accessible and central to all.

All these efforts will culminate in a main SMME Fair at the Durban Exhibition Centre at the end of September with some 300 exhibitors expected, which plans to be better than ever before with participation from Durban's Sister cities, and a buyers programme on the cards.

During the Fairs, experts in the field of SMME development and business conducting free informative workshops, covering a variety of relevant topics. SMMEs can learn about accessing finance, business compliance, the municipality’s business support programme, procurement procedures and policies, and more.

Key role players are made available to impart valuable information and assistance to SMMEs to grow and make successes of their businesses.

Mayor Obed Mlaba said the Fairs were a primary networking hubs for small, medium and micro enterprises. “I appeal to the business sector, especially big business to support these fairs. They provide opportunities for networking and bridge building. It is time we started to grow some African millionaires in eThekwini; these fairs are fertile ground.”

BSU Acting Head Philip Sithole: “Big business and industry are urged to come on board and participate in the business linkage programme. It is only with their support that small business will be able to develop to their full potential.

Read Derek Dlamini's account of the SMME Fair at Umlazi Mega City.

Dates of the Fairs:

INK SMME Fair: 22 – 24 June at the JL Dube Stadium, Inanda. Contact Thuli Mthembu of Vezubuhle Events at Tel: 031 303 8218; Fax: 086 654 4339; or Cell: 073 408 7065

Rural ABM SMME Fair: The proposed dates and venues are:1. North: 30 June, at Mount View Hall, Verulam.2. West: 5 July, at the Pinetown Civic Centre.3. South: 7 July, at the Umbumbulu municipal offices.Contact Zodwa Msimang of Ikhono Communications at Tel: 031 266 9937; Fax: 031 266 6054; Cell: 082 554 3150

The Main SMME Fair: Durban Exhibition Centre from 28 – 30 September. Contact the Business Support Unit, c/o Winile Mntungwa at Tel: 031 311 4500; 031 311 4442; Fax: 031 332 6408; or Cell: 083 449 6005

Register for the SMME Fairs

Durban Street Renaming - City Manager Explains Process

In the light of all the uproar and outcry over the renaming of streets and buildings in Durban, I thought I'd publish this media release from City Manager, Dr Michael Sutcliffe which explains the whole process.

The names that are on the list are PROPOSALS and the reason they are there is because people PROPOSED them, after advertisements in the media inviting them to do so. If those who are now making such a fuss preferred other names, they could have also put in proposals at any time. The Council can only evaluate the list of names submitted by the public. It can't manufacture names.

I was ashamed and saddened this week at the ignorance, arrogance, racism and hatred that I saw displayed, especially in blog posts regarding this process.

I hope Dr Sutcliffe's statement will clear some things up:


STREET RENAMING PROCESS

Dr. Michael Sutcliffe
City Manager: eThekwini

Over the past week we have received significant comment on some proposed changes to the names of streets, facilities and even the municipality. Whilst some of the comment is not even worthy of response it is very important to make sure everyone understands exactly what the process is so that they may properly contribute to what is an important part of building our city.

1. THE PROCESS TO RENAME STREETS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY ALL COUNCILLORS IN ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY:

In February 2007 eThekwini’s Council agreed on a process to review and finalise names for streets and facilities in our city. In brief, the process required that after inviting comments from the public, the relevant council committee would review names received, make a recommendation to Council after which such names would be finalized. It must be noted that all political parties represented in council accepted this process and through this accepted there would be renaming.

2. THE PROCESS INVITED COMMENTS FROM ALL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC:

Adverts ran on March 9, 2007 in major local newspapers calling on the public to put forward proposals for the renaming of roads, streets, freeways, municipal buildings, community halls, parks and other public places within the municipal region. Posters were also placed in different Sizakala centres and libraries. The public was encouraged to email, fax, post or even hand-deliver to these centres.

The closing date for submissions was the 30th March 2007, giving the public 21 days to engage with the municipality. And even after this closing date, a few submissions were also considered.

A total of 245 proposals were received. Some were disqualified because they failed to adhere to the set criteria, itself guided by the law. The disqualified included names of living persons, duplicate names and new proposals which did not refer to the old names. Some proposals were made by single individuals and some came from organizations. Some political parties simply forwarded what their branch structures had suggested and indicated that they would only formulate their views collectively when the matters were dealt with by Council. Some political parties made no submissions at all.

3. BEFORE CONSIDERING WHICH NAMES WOULD BE ACCEPTED BY COUNCIL IT WAS AGREED THAT THE PUBLIC WOULD BE INVITED TO COMMENT ON THE SPECIFIC NAMES RECEIVED

After considering the views received from the public in response to the adverts and discussing the matter with my colleagues within the administration, I decided to recommend to committee that before they properly consider each and every suggestion received, that they publish the names received for comment in order to ensure that all members of the public would have an opportunity to air their views on every name under consideration. This changed the process already agreed upon, but I believe it allowed for even greater participation as the public could now comment on the suggestions received from a wide range of sources, before committee considered each name submitted.

Councillors would then be better informed when considering each specific suggestion about views that they received, whether they were criticisms or support for the names received. It is not true that there are any secret submissions or that I have refused to make available the submissions received. After discussions with my Head: Legal I was informed that in order to make available to a third party the actual submissions received I must first ask the person if they are happy to make it available. If they are not I will still make their submission available but without their name or contact details.

The committee accepted my report allowing for this additional consultation until 11th May 2007. After that the committee will meet and consider each and every recommendation and comment thereon, and forward their views to Council for finalization. Obviously, further names can continue to be received and will follow similarly consultative processes.

4. PROBLEMS WITH OBJECTIONS RECEIVED TO DATE

4.1 MANY OBJECTIONS ARE ABOUT PRINCIPLE OF RENAMING NOT ABOUT SPECIFIC NAMES: Over 95% of the objections received to date have objected to the principle of renaming. Given that council unanimously accepted that some streets would be renamed there is little point in members of the public simply sending in general complaints that they don’t want streets renamed. This included all political parties represented on Council. Council has accepted that some streets will be renamed and it is unlikely that council will rescind that decision. May I therefore urge that members of the public provide specific comment in support or not of specific suggestions for street renaming.
4.2 ARGUMENTS THAT THESE PROPOSED NAMES ARE A FAIT ACCOMPLI AND THAT IT IS POINTLESS FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO OBJECT AS THEIR VIEWS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED: As indicated above, the committee has not sat and deliberated on each and every name yet and so it is important for members of the public to put forward their views. Specific views will have to be assessed and so this is an important opportunity for people to provide specific reasons.
4.3 ARGUMENTS THAT SOME NAMES ARE REPEATED: As indicated above, different people/organizations may have made suggestions about renaming. This meant that some streets have more than one name, one name has been suggested for more than one street/facility, etc. Clearly the committee will have to look at this because the intention is not to have such as it would lead to confusion.
4.4 ARGUMENTS THAT SUGGEST ALL THE CITY’S STREETS ARE BEING RENAMED: eThekwini has over 30000 street names, with over 4000 being located in the former Durban central area. Even if all the proposals were to be accepted by the committee, this would mean less than 1 percent of the city’s street names would be changed and the rest would have been named during the colonial and apartheid eras.

I trust that over the next two weeks the public focuses on the consultative opportunities provided by this process and that we receive submissions which will allow the committee to clearly and unemotionally decide on which streets will be renamed and what names they will be given. This is an important aspect of public participation afforded us by our democracy.

Durban- the Smartest City in Africa

Martin Cele, CEO of Smartxchange, Deputy Mayor, Clr Logie Nairoo, Jacquie Subban, Head of Geographic and Information Systems, Ethekwini Municipality

The first SmartCity Conference and Exhibition in Africa took place in Durban at the International Convention Centre on 19 and 20 April 2007.

They streamed the conference live to five venues on the campus at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) using eThekwini's municipality's fibre optic network.

Part of the SmartCity initiative is to provide affordable broadband technology to the citizens of Durban by using the City’s own fibre-optic infrastructure which will be extended and enhanced.

One doesn't have to be a rocket-scientist to understand, how broadband technology can change the delivery of government services, business processes, education and people’s access to information.

For eThekwini municipality, this is a win win situation. "There is no doubt that low cost connectivity will have a major impact in attracting foreign investment. SMME skills will also be able to be developed further around the telecommunications and broadband services space," says Deputy Mayor, Councillor Logie Naidoo.

Smartxchange, the organisers of the conference, is an initiative within the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). It was established for the purpose of developing the business base for the ICT industry in KZN.

In its efforts to realise the vision of KwaZulu-Natal becoming Africa’s ICT Hub, Smartxchange created the SmartCity Forum. Members were drawn from the SmartXchange partner base and workshops were held with key city officials to discuss the SmartCity concept and the SmartCity Municipal strategies. And that is how this conference and exhibition was born.

But watch this space, there will be another one next year. And keep an eye on the Smartexchange website - there is a lot of interesting stuff happening.

Rathayatra - Festival of Chariots- Durban

It has been Easter Time for Christians; Pesach for the Jewish community and here in Durban once again, the annual Festival of the Chariots or Rathayatra on the Durban Beachfront for the Hindu community.

Every year, this great festival of Rathayatra, which stemmed from Jagannatha Puri, explodes in a brust of colour and devotion as thousands of people gather to celebrate, sing and dance and of course to eat the delicious free food the Hare Krishna's and out.

With a hand tucked into a prayer bag - moving over the wooden beads, you hear the mantra of the Lord's Holy names muttered as you press through the crowd:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare.

My friend Vivan Attwood was there and took these amazing pictures which she said I could borrow for my blog.

eThekwini Budget Public Hearings- Dates, times and places

The Draft Medium Term 2007-2008 and 2009 -20010 Budget and all its documents is available here.

PUBLIC HEARINGS: 2007/2008 BUDGET PROCESS

Please be advised that presentation on the 2007/2008 budget are scheduled to be held in the Albert Luthuli Hall, City Hall on the following dates and times:

10 April

11:00
Procurement & Infrastructure
Infrastructure

Housing, Cleansing and Solid Waste and Human Resources

11 April

11:00
Health, Safety & Social Services

Health, Safety and Social Services

12 April

11:00
Sustainable Development & City Enterprises

Economic Development and Planning

12 April

14:00
Office of the City Manager
Governance
Treasury
Corporate & Human Resources
Masakhane, Grants-in-Aid, Non-discrimination and Non-sexism
Housing, Cleansing and Solid Waste and Human Resources


REGIONAL IDP AND BUDGET HEARINGS : 2007/2008


Mpumalanga Wards 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 91

15/04/07

09H00 Mpumalanga Main Hall

Greater Hillcrest Wards 2, 8, 9, 10

14/04/07

09h00 Hillcrest Hall

Pinetown South Wards 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

15/04/07

09H00 Pinetown Civic Centre

Clermont Wards 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 92

14/04/07

09H00 Clermont Hall

Greater Durban Wards 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37,48

15/04/07

09H00 Luthuli Hall, City Hall

Inanda-Ntuzuma Wards 3, 42, 43, 44, , 55, 56, 57

15/04/07

09H00 Nozaza Hall

Kwamashu Wards 11, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47,

15/04/07

09h00 KwaMashu Indoor Sport Centre

Phoenix Wards 48, 49, 50, 52,53, 54

15/04/07

09H00 Redfern Hall

Verulam Wards 51 , 58, 59, 60, 61, 62

14/04/07

09H00 Verulam Sportground

Lower South Wards 64, 66, 67, 68, 74, 75

14/04/07

10H00 Ningizimu Special School, Umlazi

Chatsworth Wards 63, 65, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73

15/04/07

10H00 Bayview Hall, Chatsworth

Umlazi Wards 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88

14/04/07

09H00 Umlazi Cinema

Upper South Wards 89, 90, 93, 94, 95, 100

14/04/07

09H00 St Ramalinga Hall

Upper South Wards 96, 97, 98, 99

15/04/07

09H00 Illovu B Hall

For more information kindly contact Krish Kumar, the deputy city manager: Treasury on 083 4615 106 or your Ward Councillor..

International Women's Day...Futura kids