P Fourie, Gordon’s Bay
Norman McFarlane’s article (“It’s more than just about winning today,” Bolander, August 3) raises some important issues concerning the governing of the City of Cape Town between 2016 and 2021.
Apart from what one might call maintenance (which refers not only to physical infrastructure, but to all the established systems – financial, administrative and political ), what are the really important developmental issues?
What are the things we should do now to move to a better society in the long term?
My personal wish list (more or less in order of importance) includes the following:
* Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres as essential prerequisite for schooling;
* HIV counselling/ family planning, especially for young girls;
* Food gardens and food supplements, especially for pregnant mothers and children under 12 months;
* Reducing violence against women;
* Skills training, especially in building and plumbing, together with encouragement for people to improve their own houses.
Of course, the City already has its own vision for the next five years; this is a good time for revisiting the IDP (Integrated Development Plan), available at the City’s website.
Please draw up your own wish lists and bring them to your councillors’ attention.
I hope that a conversation on these topics will develop in Bolander over the next few weeks.
