Ward 9 In Lenasia To Become South Africa’s First ‘Smart Ward’

WARD 9 in Lenasia is set to become South Africa’s first ‘Smart Ward’ – AL JAMA-AH’s President Hon Ganief Hendricks who was recently appointed as Deputy Minister of Social Development, announced.

To take up a position as Member of Parliament, Imraan Moosa will have to resign as ward councillor.
He had won the ward in two elections and succeeded in setting new standards for service delivery in South Africa thus earning him the nickname, “Beloved Councillor” for his sterling work.

Some of the notable achievements made in Ward 9 are:

– Improved security not only in Ward 9, but throughout Lenasia.
– Developed a safe and reliable Lenasia Scholar Transport Plan
– Acted to improve service delivery in Lenasia.
– Transformed Lenasia and saved it from further degeneration.
– Accelerated social cohesion and ‘united the community in diversity’.
– Encouraged local businesses to play a more meaningful role in the community.
– During Covid 19, together with other social partners he founded the Covid-19 Emergency /Disaster Facility at the Nurul Islam Hall; 20 beds were set up and many lives were saved.    
– Increased security at the Old Age Home.
– Started a new environmental upgrade project to establish an improved central business district and a well-managed and safe taxi rank.

Since Moosa will be taking up a MP (Member of Parliament) position soon, he has mentored a protegee, Jakes Karolia to take over from him.  Throughout the great strides Moosa made while serving as a ward councillor, Jakes Karolio has been his ‘right-hand man.’  Karolia, therefore, is not new to serving the community.  Along with Moosa they have been working hard for several months to re-contest the ward.

Once Moosa becomes the leader of AL JAMA-AH in Parliament, he will establish a National Parliamentary Constituency Office in Ward 9, Lenasia – this will be in line with government’s objective of “bringing parliament closer to the people.”  The Constituency office will handle people’s grievances and if necessary, address at all three tiers of government.

The ward councillor will provide the same high-level services to the community, which they used to receive from Moosa. He will continue to offer support to and provide good leadership to the ward councillor.  In a ‘Smart Ward’ there is no room for silos as the three tiers of government must work together harmoniously.

Moosa will currently be assisting the Deputy Minister of Social Development, AL JAMA-AH’s President, Hon Ganief Hendricks. The Parliamentary Constituency Office under Moosa’s Leadership, will provide ‘state of the art’ services such as:
– Drug rehabilitation programmes
– Implementing the Children’s Act
– Assisting NPOs to access funding
– Offer further support to the existing School of Skills: a sustainable agricultural project will be launched in Ward 9.

The ward councillor will provide a niche service to process applications for old age pensions and other social grants. This service will be processed online and will also have a direct hotline to the office of the Deputy Minister of Social Development.

WHO IS YAKOOB ‘JAKES’ KAROLIA?

Yacoob Karolia commonly known as ‘Jakes’ is a local businessman.
For the past 30 years he has been doing voluntarily work for the Masjied E-Hamza in Lenasia Extension 9 and is currently the Vice- Chairperson.
He is a member of the Lenasia Safety and Security Committee and Serves on the Community Police Forum.

Karolia shares great empathy with the homeless and landless people, but believes there must be rules and regulations which must be adhered to.  As part of safety and security he mobilizes support for SAPS during land ‘invasions’ and other safety related matters.   

He is the Vice Chairperson of the South African National Parks Honorary Rangers-JHB
He participates in community sports, coaches, and trains various teams in different soccer divisions.
He is the Vice Chairperson of Tiger Football Club.
He has good community skills and have served as Community Liaison as the contact point between Volunteers, community members and local organisations.

As mentioned earlier, he is not new to community work: Karolia also developed and implemented programs aimed at addressing community needs, such as food drives, educational workshops, and clean-up campaigns.