FROM day one, Drakenstein Municipality was one of the municipalities that realised that the bulk of its citizens will not have a capacity and resources to enjoy the World Cup without the intervention from the municipality.
The decision was to afford everyone from all corners of this municipality (from Saron, Gouda, Wellington, Mbekweni, Paarl up to Simondium) an opportunity to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event.
The engagement came as a realisation that not everyone in Drakenstein has a TV and DSTV or the capacity and resources to travel to Cape Town and enjoy the planned FIFA Fan Parks or visit the stadia.
By looking after its citizens with a public viewing area, there could not have been a better way for the municipality to help its citizens enjoy the World Cup.
Yet there are a few people who are bent on opposing this and continue to question the wisdom of our Council to extend this opportunity to its citizens.
These individuals are presumably more privileged and they would probably be able to be part of this event by travelling to the arranged FIFA Fan Parks or purchasing game tickets. They selfishly did not view the importance of having a PVA in Drakenstein.
There were on average thousands of ordinary Drakensteiners who enjoyed the Public Viewing Areas on all days the PVA was open - to them this opportunity made a big difference.
I know this because I was there all along and observed firsthand how much excitement the PVAs brought to these people who normally would not have been part of the tournament.
The review and praise from the people attending the PVAs was overwhelming.
The Council of Drakenstein deserves praise and not condemnation for its decision to set its own PVA and how that PVA was conducted incident free.
Dr Sidima Kabanyane
Drakenstein Municipal
Manager
