“If we want to build a modern, resilient country that is able to adapt to the challenges of our fast-changing world, then we have to make sure we remain future-focused!”
– DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane
Here are five ways that DA governments, across the length and breadth of South Africa, are meeting the challenges of the 21st-century head-on:
Africa’s first plastic road in Kouga:
In the small town of Jeffrey’s Bay in the beautiful Eastern Cape, the DA-run municipality of Kouga has officially started work on Africa’s first-ever plastic road.
“Non-recyclable plastic waste, which ends up in the ocean or clogging up landfill sites, is processed into pellets and used to replace a large component of the bitumen in a conventional asphalt mix.”
– Vicky Knoetze, DA Eastern Cape MPL
Water is the number one cause of potholes on regular roads. The plastic road is therefore said to be stronger and more durable, as it is more difficult for water to penetrate the surface.
Green innovation in the City of Johannesburg:
The DA-led City of Johannesburg’s Housing Department recently won a Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Award at the United Nations 14th Annual Session of the Global Forum on Human Settlements.
The award was won for the City’s South Hills mixed-income housing development, a housing development praised as a “global green model community“.
The South Hills development will yield 6 204 units, with 408 already completed.
South Africa’s first housing app in Stellenbosch:
The DA-run Stellenbosch Municipality recently launched a housing app to increase accessibility and access to the housing database for all residents.
The app is not only a first for Stellenbosch but is one of the first-ever municipal applications in South Africa.
There are currently over 16 300 applicants currently registered on Stellenbosch’s housing database, but the information of many applicants is incomplete or out-dated. The app will allow residents to update their information, and create a secure profile that can be used to complete an application.
“Our new housing app and the implementation of our housing demand database will allow us to keep accurate records and plan according to the needs of our residents.”
– Stellenbosch Mayor, Gesie van Deventer
A future-focused school in rural Worcester:
Thanks to a partnership between the DA-run Western Cape government and private donors, a state-of-the-art, world-class primary school has officially opened in rural Worcester.
Botha’s Halte Primary places an emphasis on e-learning, demonstrating how 21st-century technology can be used to reach and contribute to quality education in rural and outlying areas of South Africa.
Digital technology is changing the way learners are educated. The school has already become an educational hub for the district and, through digital teaching, seamlessly links with other teaching institutions such as the University of Stellenbosch.
Waste to energy in the City of Cape Town:
For the last 18 months, the DA-run City of Cape Town has embarked on an innovative project to tackle harmful methane emissions from Cape Town’s landfills.
By safely trapping methane gas pockets produced by decaying rubbish in landfills and then burning the gas, the City of Cape Town is eliminating harmful greenhouse gasses.
The innovation, however, doesn’t stop there. The City will now embark on phase two of the project which will see the harmful methane gas used as a heating fuel in industry, to generate electricity or as a fuel for vehicles.
This initiative will be a useful case study for all other local governments across South Africa, with other DA governments, in particular, focused on fighting greenhouse emissions.