City Mayor Amos Masondo congratulates Moses Maliba on his appointment as president of IMESA Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg

RELATED LINKS: Mayor celebrates Soweto Road Map Project All the gravel roads - 314 kilometres - in Soweto were tarred in just two years. And as part of the Soweto Road Map Project, 18 families are being relocated to make way for expansion of the Soweto Highway extension. Read more Orlando Ekhaya development a new dawn for Soweto 'Orlando Ekhaya will be the place that everyone wants to come and see,' said Johannesburg Executive Mayor Amos Masondo at the launch of Soweto's R1-billion Orlando Ekhaya project, a major development set to revitalise the township's economy. Read more Mall boom in Soweto With research showing that much of Soweto's disposable income is spent outside the area, developers and retailers are ploughing investments into vibrant shopping malls catering for residents' every want. Read more Soweto City of Contrasts Soweto is a city of contrasts: luxurious mansions across the road from tin shanties, green fields and streams around the corner from piles of garbage, BMWs with a single passenger parked at traffic lights alongside battered minibus taxis jam-packed with passengers, and a friendliness and cheerfulness that disguises a high unemployment rate. Read more

Mayor praises role of municipal engineers Municipal engineers have turned around the lives of communities, especially in previously disadvantaged townships, says the City's executive mayor. October 11, 2006 By Ndaba Dlamini MUNICIPAL engineers play a pivotal role in improving the quality of life of communities and developing the economy, according to Executive Mayor Amos Masondo. He was speaking at the opening of the Institution of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (Imesa) conference at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus on Tuesday, 10 October. This year's conference, with the theme Knowledge for Action, aims to look at the many challenges faced by the engineering profession by transferring municipal engineering skills and improved competency in the fields of capacity building, management and technical skills related to municipal infrastructures. It will run for four days until Friday, 13 October. Masondo said modern day municipal engineers, by the nature of their discipline, were responsible for provision of essential services to people. "Despite facing the challenges of ballooning urban populations, globalisation and fighting poverty, municipal engineers have managed to turn the lives of communities around, especially in previously disadvantaged townships like Soweto." He said infrastructure in Soweto was more than 50 years old and it had been neglected for a very long time. However, an R80-million upgrade of all ageing infrastructure is in the pipeline and it was up to the engineers to come up with efficient and innovative ways to make sure the project was a success. Soweto was a worthy venue for the conference because the township not only reflected the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the past, "but is an awakening giant getting ready to take its rightful place among other major cities of Gauteng", Masondo said. "Those of you who come to Soweto for the first time - we hope it's an enjoyable experience and that you will return [home] with a different perspective of the most important township in South Africa." Soweto was undergoing an economic metamorphosis and Masondo urged the delegates to visit the township and note the developments taking place. "This part of the city is experiencing remarkable developments. There are numerous developments sprouting up, [such as] the R1-billion Orlando Ekhaya and roads and other social infrastructure projects," he said. In his address, the outgoing president of the institution, Tjaart van der Walt, said municipal engineers were the "world's unsung heroes of human and economic development". Their role in the development of communities and the economy had been underplayed for centuries and their contribution to public health and safety all but ignored. "Municipal engineers are responsible for the provision of drinking water, sanitation, electricity, solid waste removal, housing and public buildings, transportation systems and storm water drainage - all of which are essential elements of modern day living." Van der Walt lamented the shortage of engineers nationally and the "disappointingly low number of black engineers locally". The civil engineering profession had traditionally been dominated by males, he added. "Although they have served on the Imesa council in the past, no woman has ever served on the Imesa executive. This year, for the very first time in Imesa's history a woman, Angela Broom, was appointed to the Imesa exco." Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za