Discover the rhythm of the Vaal

The Vaal River Carnival kick-started with a launch held on a mayoral boat cruise at Stonehaven on Vaal. The Carnival which is in its ninth year in succession will take place over twenty-nine days staging numerous events starting on the 27th August until the 9th October.

The festivities are aimed at showcasing and profiling the beauty and splendor of the Vaal Triangle and the programme is part of a continued effort to enhance social cohesion and cultural expression, which will bring families together and both the public and private sector to share their skills in the quest of taking the region forward to revive its opportunities for economic and tourism development.

Emfuleni Local Municipality, Executive Mayor Cllr Greta Hlongwane, said; ''We want our communities to begin to look inwards with a view of identifying what they have in the area of cultural resources and using it to promote culture and tourism in their communities. Our intention is to expose those who will be visiting our region during the Carnival period to our state of the art hotels, conference, business and leisure facilities and the history of the Vaal.''

The retail sector is reported to be doing exceptionally well during this economic condition with the not-so-new Makro anticipating R1 billion during its first year of operation while Vaal Mall is expecting to reach R1.5 billion this year and this has encouraged the shareholders to add an additional 30 000 square meters to the current shopping mall.

Hlongwane urged role players in Emfuleni to join hands and expand the local tourism industry. ''There are many tourism opportunities especially in our township areas, I plea for greater financial support to individuals with bright ideas to expand our tourism product offerings in various categories such as tour-operators, guides, self-catering, guest houses, lodges, arts and craft entrepreneurs''.

As part of LED activities the region is currently busy drafting and finalizing some new initiatives to support business, encourage business to expand and attract new investments.

#SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS ON THE CARNIVAL

Vaal River Carnival - Calendar 2011Vaal River Carnival - Calendar 2011

Spring Beer Festival
Date: 27 August
Venue: Stonehaven on Vaal
Time: 12h00
Contact: 016 982 2951 / 072 394 3412
www.stonehaven.co.za

Vaal Wedding, Special Functions and Tourism Expo
Date: 27-28 August
Time: 9h00 am
Venue: Emerald Resort & Casino
Contact: 082 708 2834 info@vaalwed.co.za

Vaal Beach Pre-Party
Date: 2 September
Time: 8h00 pm
Venue: Club Illusions Vaal Walk, Vdbp
Contact: 082 223 6986 / 073 703 5100
www.masiasound.co.za

Commemoration of the Vaal Uprising
Date: 3 September
Time: 9h30am
Venue: Bophelong Stadium
Contact: 071 680 0157 / 016 450 3210 www.sedibeng.gov.za

Annual Vaal Tropika Beach Party
Date: 3 September
Time: 12h00
Venue: Cecil Oldridge Park
Contact: 082 223 6986 / 073 703 5100 www.masiasound.co.za

Vaal Beach Sunday Chilling Session
Date: 4 September
Time: 12h00
Venue: Planet Africa (Sonlandpark)
Contact: 082 223 6986 / 073 703 5100 www.masiasound.co.za

Spring Day Music Explosion: Soul Session
Date: 4 September
Time: 12h00
Venue: Vaal Show Grounds
Contact: 082 546 0909 / 082 837 5218 www.springmusicsa.com

Emfuleni Wheels at the Vaal
Date: 3-4 September
Time: 9h00 am
Venue: NWU Vaal Campus
Contact: 083 513 6632 mauritz.meyer@gmail.com

Vaal Water Festival
Date: 3-4 September
Time: 9h00am
Venue: Emerald Resort & Casino
Contact: 082 853 7995

SAPS Fun Day
Date: 7 September
Time: 7h30 am
Venue: Redan
Contact: 079 522 7774 wonderboy.jtsoari@gmail.com

TEKKIEFEES
Date: 9-10 September
Time: Fri - 15h00 Sat - 7h00 am
Venue: HTS Vereeniging
Contact: 083 287 5566 www.tekkiefees.co.za

Wet & Wild
Date: 10 September
Time: 11h00 am
Venue: Emerald Resort & Casino
Contact: 083 562 3365 www.spicedevents.co.za

Arts and Culture Expo
Date: 10-11 September
Time: 10h00 am
Venue: Mphatlalatsane Theatre
Contact: 016 950 6366 / 082 610 6723 www.emfuleni.gov.za

Indigenous Games
Date: 17 September
Time: 7h00 am
Venue: Saul Tsotetsi Sports Complex
Contact: 016 986 4883 www.emfuleni.gov.za

DM Khunou Choral Music Festival
Date: 17-18 September
Time: 9h00 am
Venue: Mphatlalatsane Theatre
Contact: 082 672 9086 www.sedibeng.gov.za

The Crowning of Miss Emfuleni
Date: 23 September
Time: 7h00 pm
Venue: Vereeniging Civic Theatre
Contact: 016 950 5152 / 016 950 5420 www.emfuleni.gov.za

Sports and Recreation Expo
Date: 23-24 September
Time: 10h00 am
Venue: Saul Tsotetsi Sports Complex
Contact: 016 986 4883 www.emfuleni.gov.za

Heritage October Fest
Date: 24 September
Venue: Dick Fourie Stadium
Contact: 083 303 3676

Vaal Show - Vereeniging
Date: 30 September - 8 October
Venue: Vaal Show Grounds
Time: 10h00 am
Contact: 083 418 1226 www.vaalskou.co.za

Street Parade
Date: 1 October
Venue: Starts Fire Station VDBP and ends Library
Contact: 016 950 6366 / 082 610 6723 www.emfuleni.gov.za

Gospel Festival
Date: 2 October
Time: 10h00 am
Venue: Vaal Show Grounds, Vereeniging
Contact: 082 223 6986 / 073 703 5100 www.masiasound.co.za

Campus to Campus Cycle Challenge
Date: 9 October
Venue: NWU Vaal Campus
Time: 7h00 am
Contact: 083 269 7659

Emfuleni Local Municipality launch 100 days action plan

In a bid to report back to the community after the elections that was held four months ago Emfuleni Local Municipality outlined its action plan on service delivery. Executive Mayor, Cllr. Greta Hlongwane who was recently elected as the deputy president of SALGA (South African Local Government Association) will be engaging with the authorities in a view that the municipality be reinstated to its metropolitan status as it is one of the biggest municility in terms of size.

Recently the municipality faced an avalanche of protests which among others saw residents of Debonair Park marching against the billing system and this was further fuelled by the council disconnecting illegal electricity. As it stand R4million in revenue was lost on a substation due to illegal connection.

Addressing the media, Hlongwane said ''We are a developmental municipality that continuously strives to improve the quality of life of its community by subscribing to Batho-Pele principles. We want to improve the system of inter-governmental relation and continue to build it in a coordinated way. Youth in Dialogue Indaba is already in place and are now working on convening a Youth Summit in the near future, will also be renovating sports facilities which will keep them away from crime and drugs. Audit on RDP houses that are being sold will be conducted as we don't understand why our people don't hand-over the houses to the government when they no longer need them. Residential place cannot be utilized for business because by so doing this reduce the supply of power to the other, we are also looking at implementing by-laws that will prevent people from erecting shacks and churches anywhere without the municipality's consent''.

Among projects the residents of the Emfuleni can look forward to are a number of jobs which will be created through the EPWP (Expanded Public Works Programme) and labour intensive construction methods with R11 million allocated, student accommodation problem resolved with stakeholders and Mayoral Imbizo's taking place once a quarter as part of public participation programme.

The municipality will be looking to name and shame contractors whose work was unsatisfactory as this is deemed wasteful expenditure. Unfinished projects will be finalised and as such no tenders will be awarded to them.

In conclusion she said: ''To complement women's month, workshops will be conducted with a manageable group of women entrepreneurs, starting from 22 August until 26 August 2011 and it will focus on issues such as entrepreneur skills, business training, registration of cooperatives and companies, taxes and funding''.