Mangaung spokesperson wins award

Mangaung metro spokesperson, Qondile Khedama, has received an award at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Media Awards for Best Opinion Article published by Sunday Independent. The awards ceremony was held at Freedom Park in Pretoria.
Khedama wrote an opinion article about the drought situation in the country. “I view myself as a social activist and I always write about issues that affect our society. The issue of water in the past year was a big one for me. So one of the things that I was raising, was the scarcity of water as a result of the drought and how it affects those people who cannot afford,” he said.
The gist of his opinion piece referred to the looming catastrophe regarding the water crisis in the country if the government does not intervene. He believes that the SADC picked up his piece because the issue of water relates to the entire African continent, thus the article is relevant to all African countries.
Khedama said that he hopes the award makes those he is surrounded by proud, as he always shares his opinion with them. “I am happy because the response that I get from my colleagues in the city, province and nationally, has been a positive response. This shows that people are actually looking at us. It’s not that when you express a certain view people are not listening,” added Khedama.
Acting city manager, Sello Moré, said the municipality is proud to have such talent working for it. “This is exemplary. It shows that people that we employ in the city are not just locally recognised, but nationally and internationally. And we take this as a compliment to him, as well as to the city and the province.”
Khedama added that he is inspired by the metro and its people. “I draw my inspiration from the people of Mangaung, because they would call and actually give me accolades, so these are the people that make us. Without people you are nothing. So if you respect people and work for them honestly, this is what you’ll reap at the end of the day.
“I’m proud that the work we do gets positive recognition and I’m saying that from the bottom of my heart,” he added. – Seithati Semenokane
seithati@centralmediagroup.co.za