City staff takes Casual Day to heart
By Tabisa Mntengwana
8 September 2009
THROUGH its Make a Difference campaign, Buffalo City has donated over R5 000 to the Rehab charity organisation.
Make a Difference was introduced by Executive Mayor Zukisa Faku in her State of the City address on 31 July. Under it, some City officials participated in national Casual Day, on Friday, 4 September. On the day, the City encouraged its employees to come dressed differently to work.
Rehab is an organisation based in East London that raises disability awareness at schools and among the general public through radio and any other media.
It concentrates on disabilities caused by issues such as epilepsy and foetal alcohol syndrome and mental health problems in the hope of changing negative attitudes towards people with disabilities.
With the theme "Show you care by what you wear", more than 500 municipal employees took part in a Casual Day competition organised by the Office of the Municipal Manager.
City spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said: "The event proved to be a success, with employees buying Casual Day stickers and participating fully in raising disability awareness."
The Casual Day project kicked off in 1995. According to the
website, the idea of dressing casually on the first Friday in September has grown in popularity and stature with the help of the mascot, Able, introduced in 1997.
Ngwenya said the City turned a different page on Casual Day and urged its employees to dress humorously or as their favourite superhero; each department could also adopt a specific theme as part of the competition.
They had to take pictures of their outfits, displaying their Casual Day stickers, and submit these to the competition organisers.
An award ceremony was held at the East London City Hall late on Friday afternoon to hand over the cheque and to name the winners of the City competition. Speaking at the ceremony, the director of Rehab, Zininzi Mpurwana, said: "Our goal is to change the mentality that people have about disabled people within our society and get them the services and recognition they deserve."
During his welcome address, the portfolio head for corporate services, Sizwe Dikimolo, expressed his gratitude for the level of participation from employees in making the event a success.
Giving her closing remarks and handing over the cheque to Rehab, Faku said: "It's good to see officials getting their hands dirty and participating in this campaign and making a difference to the public."
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