The Rep 28 October 2022

4 Tel: (045) 839-4040 / editorial: bobeloz@therep.co.za / advertising: charodinev@therep.co.za 28 October 2022 THE R E P R ES E N TAT I V E
Lihlo able to see clearly, and no longer teased
Continued from PAGE 1
correct muscle deviation, and surgery
was the only way to fix the alignment of
the eyes.
After Lihlo had an eye examination
done, Young said they immediately
thought of the SPAR collaboration and
got the ball rolling with local specialist
Dr Tuswa, who completed the first
surgery with great success.
“Mata’s eyes are for the first time
learning to see together and her brain
combining two images,” Dr Tuswa said.
“The outcome is amazing and I
think every person who contributed to
making a difference in the community
can be proud to have been part of
changing Lihlo’s life.
“This is an example of how together
we can make a great difference in
many lives.”
Kernekamp said Protea SPAR’S See
for Free campaign fell under the scope
of Spec-Savers’ Kid’s Right To Good
Sight campaign.
“This is where SPAR is trying to
cover the gap, as there were children
who needed more advanced products
such as expensive lenses which the
Spec-Savers umbrella store does not
cover, and which the parents from rural
communities could not afford.
“This will help them get the right
products for these children to improve
their vision.
“Through SPAR’s help, we can refer
the children for operations and actually
get it done for the children whose
parents do not have the capacity to pay
for an operation or therapy for
conditions like dyslexia.”
Kernekamp added that the scope of
the campaign would expand in time.
At present, the Spec-Savers
campaign targets children between six
and 12 years old.
However, she said it did not mean
that children who were not in that age
group could not be referred for
assistance.
She said two other children had
been identified and would have to be
referred to a hospital in East London.
“Th e y are working on getting the
right professionals at Frontier Hospital
to be able to offer operations to the
smaller children but at the moment
they are not able to,” Kernekamp said.
Protea SPAR store manager Wessel
Erasmus said the company had bought
1,000 frames for children in need of
spectacles in the district so far.
He said Protea Spar was n ow
collecting donations from customers to
help children in need of special glasses
and procedures.
“The money that we have collected
at present is over R56,000 and there are
quite a number of children who need
g l a s s e s ,” he said.
Erasmus said after having
undergone the operation, Lihlo’s life
would improve not only in that she
could now see better, but also socially.
He said some children teased
children who had a squint or disability.
“But after the operation, Lihlo will
be more confidently able to socialise
and have more friends.
“Her whole lifestyle will change
and it will impact her future because
she will see better and her grades will
i m p r ove .
“It will impact all aspects of her
l i f e ,” Erasmus said.
He was grateful to customers for
their contribution.
“Thank you to all the customers
who have donated, your money is
being spent well.
“You have already helped nearly
1,000 children with reading glasses
who could not see properly before, but
now they can.”
SMMEs question municipal efficiency
ABONGILE SOLUNDWANA
Some of the local entrepreneurs
called to the Small, Medium and
Micro Entreprises (SMMEs)
public meeting by Enoch Mgijima
Local Municipality (EMLM) are of the
view the municipality is not doing
Komani justice as far as managing the
business sector in the town.
The meeting, which was held at
Thobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre on
Monday, was meant to take place with
EMLM mayor Thembaka Bunu and
Integrated Planning and Economic
Development (Iped) portfolio head
Sibusiso Mvana, who were not present.
This resulted in Iped officials
grappling to respond to some of the
issues raised by SMMEs.
The business sector felt that
discussing policy issues was important
and a subject that needed to be
addressed and responded to by the
absent officials in the public meeting.
Some of the SMMEs complained
BUSINESS CONCERNS: Small,
Medium and Micro
Entreprises voice concerns about
management of the business sector
by Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality
at a public meeting on Monday
Picture: ABONGILE SOLUNDWANA
about hawkers not being well managed
in town, the lack of transparency over
getting plots in town and foreign
nationals getting more preference for
space to run businesses over local
residents.
Entrepreneur Nyameka Twaku said
communities need to be consulted
before taverns were established in
residential areas.
“Also, we never knew that stalls
could be placed on the main road, but
today hair is done in Cathcart Road.
“Streets have hair on the ground.
The municipality used to supervise and
made sure people were cleaning up
after themselves, Twaku said.
“The way that the business sector is
being managed does not reflect that
there is a municipality in this town.
Businesses cannot run without proper
law measurements in place. We do not
know how the people in Scanlan Street
got the plots. There are also informal
shelters being placed in the streets.”
Others complained about the issue
of the Mlungisi small business area
being without power.
Others had problems being asked to
register businesses for them to gain
recognition by the municipality.
EMLM Iped manager Nkosi Mzileni
said the municipality wanted to
manage the business for the economy
to go in the direction they had agree
about with local entrepreneurs.
He informed them the municipality
faces a challenge of people placing
containers wherever they wanted in the
central business district, others stealing
electricity, and street hawkers placing
shelters which at times affected
motorists.
“There are a number of policies
which we have developed; among
those is the procurement policy or
government spending to profile every
spending in EMLM.
“It is not that they are being referred
by the municipality but by the property
owner. These are the people who are
placing them to run hardware stores in
the CBD.”
He said property owners also had a
right to remove people who were
selling in the territory of their business
because it was part of the property for
their customers to walk into the store.
“But due to unemployment, we
need to have an agreement where
vendors can negotiate with property
owners to operate in their areas for a
certain period.”
The message that they were trying
to get across, he said, was to reform
and transform planning in Komani,
including the traffic flow.
“If someone is doing hair outside,
the one inside will not want to remain
to rent property when someone is
doing it for free outside. This is why it is
important for us to have a management
system. The first requirement is for all
businesses to be registered. We have to
have a criteria that for a person to run a
business in Cathcart Road they should
employ ten people.”
Hollywoodbets, Standard Bank and
department of economic development
and environmental affairs officials also
made a presentation.
Komani, Whittlesea youth being trained as bakers
ABONGILE SOLUNDWANA
Forty-two unemployed youth trainees
from Komani and Whittlesea are
currently acquiring baking skills from
Uhuru Education, Training and
Development Services (ETDS) in Sada,
Whittlesea.
The three-month course is funded
by the Food and Beverages
Manufacturing Sector Education and
Training Authority’s (Foodbev Seta) and
run by Uhuru ETDS’s Zikhona Mgojo
with Resentse Puso.
Mgojo, who has been in the baking
industry for 13 years, approached the
Eastern Cape Community College to
bring the programme to Sada and
Komani after identifying the need.
Mgojo, who studied hospitality
management in Scotland in the UK,
said as a service provider they were
working under the Eastern Cape
Community College.
However, the groundwork for
identifying areas in need was done by
them.
“We started the baking course with
the fundamentals, theory and
practicals. Initially, we were going to be
running our practicals in the Tesco
retail store, but the building burnt
before we could use it. I was then
forced to buy equipment worth
R86,000 for the practicals to continue.”
Mgojo said lunch and transport for
the trainees was provided.
She said the trainees were interested
in attaining a national qualification
beyond just the skills training
certificate.
“I will apply for leadership for the
youth to get a stipend from Foodbev
BAKING SAVVY: Sada trainees show off fresh bread rolls which they baked at a practical session provided by Uhuru Education, Training and Development
Services Picture: ABONGILE SOLUNDWANA
Seta for a year.”
Mgojo, who also worked as a
consultant on food auditing and food
safety, said her greatest wish was to get
the quality of the bread to be in the
same range as mainstream bakeries.
“I have the skill. If we could get
equipment to produce bigger volumes
it would be magnificent.”
She said after community members
who sell quarter loaves of bread saw
the students going home with bread,
they had asked to buy from them. On
Wednesday, they had 60 orders.
Enoch Mgijima ward 25 councillor
Ernest Mavango identified the youth in
the community.
Mavango also assisted the group to
conduct their practical work at the
community hall free of charge after
Tesco had burned down.
He said he was available to assist
with the municipality where a need
arose.
Asanda Bandla from Sada said she
had learnt about the importance of
keeping a clean baking environment
and being presentable as a baker.
“We are grateful that the baking
skills programme was brought to Sada
where people are unemployed, with
some of them diverting to alcohol.
“After I have completed the course I
will get a certificate and I will be able
to sell what I bake. We can also pass on
the skill of those who were not part of
the course in our community.
She said their biggest desire was to
have their bakery in Sada where the
entire community would benefit.
“We have no shop to supply us with
bread and there are many surrounding
villages in Whittlesea that need bread,”
Bandla said.