vrijdag 21 oktober 2011

20th October

On Thursday we were invited to the Major's event  to launch the Growth Development Strategy 2040  of Joburg  (GDS 2040). It's a development plan  to make 'Joburg a World Class African City'.
It  was a unique experience in the Soccer Stadium that was built for the Worldcup 2010!

In the work we are doing for the Mayor  in the Smarter City project on Safety, I do feel we are part of this and contribute to the execution. We met so many Officials and Council members in these 2 weeks that we would never meet without doing this project. During the open bar reception  in the  City Soccer Stadium the CIO, some Council members and the Mayor himself approached us. It's maybe odd but it feels as if  we are part of this city community.
The event was a big celebration and the beginning of a new journey for Joburg!

On the highway  a truck in front of us and about 10 people were just hanging out of it... It's normal in Joburg...










It was very overwhelming to be in that huge new city soccer stadium.













 Of course there was biltong (dried meat) and  dried sausage (worst). Delicious with a  glass of African wine or savannah cider!



When the Mayor enters the Stadium suddenly evenryone goes quiet. Hierarchy is clearly respected in South Africa.
It stroke me that the reserved seats were mostly occupied by very young  native Africans.....
 not by  more experienced people you would expect in governmental positions.





Abraham, the City's CIO, is seen as a key teammembers as he has been so supportive to us!


 We made ourselves very visible sitting on the 6th row... and we all got a djembe to drum during the event. that was great fun!




 The new Mayor, Parks Tau,  addressing the audience and officially launching the GDP 2040

 A great African singer who was clearly knows  in the audience.  There was a very good  show built around the speeches with singing & dancing


The Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC) of Public Safety also gave a speech.  She was part of the youth movement during the Apartheid  in Soweto and the current Mayor was a leader of that movement.


 Seven youngsters  gave a short speech on how they feel Joburg is Their City and they showed that they want to be part of the transformation  the city is going through.








At the end there was an impressive firework and the mayor had to score a goal with the youngsters. It was touching how he reached out to those teenagers.

This is Susannah who took great care of us during the reception after the event... and we mingled between the local people totally accepted in their community
.
 This was  one of the art works that were made by the children.  It illustrates how   strong the vision is  to make Joburg a great city to live in.
There was also an empty wall where everyone could do a handprint with paint. The message behind this being that we are all players in the game!




With the team we have built a rating system for the wine we drink here. So every bottle gets a rating from 1 to 3.
We could not help it but to rate the poster on Smarter Cities too and for sure it's worth a 3!!!

#ibmcsc south africa

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