The Ecomobility World Festival 2015 kicked off today in the Sandton CBD with citizens of Johannesburg spending their Sunday marching from the Sandton Gautrain station to Alexandra.
Despite the heat, many Johannesburg residents attended the official launch of the Ecomobility Festival, which aims to create awareness around reducing South Africa’s carbon footprint and encourage road users to choose alternative modes of transport.
The Festival was officially opened by the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters; the Premier of Gauteng, David Makhura; the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Parks Tau; and the Mayor of Suwon, Yeom Tae-Young, from South Korea – where the very first Ecomobility Festival was held.
Other VIPs included 2012 SA’s Got Talent winner and spoken word artist Botlhale Boikanyo, MMC for Transport, Cllr Christine Walters, ICLEI Representative Monica Otto-Zimmermann, the Alex Field Band and Voca de Alex.
During his speech, Premier Makhura pledged to use the Gautrain as transport for the entire month of October. The Festival will end on Saturday, October 31. Makhura added that in the 80s, cycling and walking between Sandton and Alex wasn’t a choice, but that it is a choice now.
Minister Peters also urged Johannesburgers to use the Gautrain, saying that it is so advanced that anyone can walk from their house to a Gautrain bus and then catch the train.
The crowd was particularly taken away with 14 year old Boikanyo, who recited a poem she specially wrote for the Ecomobility Festival.
Those who chose not to walk the 11 kilometres to Alexandra had the opportunity to explore the Ecomobility World Exhibition. Running for the duration of the Festival and set up at the Sandton Gautrain station, the exhibition will host over 30 national and international exhibitors and interactive display of mobility and ecomobility.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about the evolution of transport over the ages and specifically how South Africa’s transport has changed.
Thandi O’hagan, who is part of the team who developed the concept of the exhibition, said they brought in volunteers who are interested in entertainment and education and who they can give skills training to help out with the exhibition.
The volunteers will specifically be involved in an interactive walking experience which aims to teach visitors about South Africa’s transport history. The walking experience included playing hopscotch, visitors playing around with toy trains, asking the volunteers about transport and how it evolved. There is no entrance fee to the exhibition.
Monday, October 5 to Friday, October 9, will focus on different workshops and dialogues which will cover the various issues and opportunities surrounding Ecomobility and implementing it.
Source: citizen
mark
Show SEO & AI-citation metadata for this article
DemoEvery article carries this structured metadata so it surfaces in search and can be cited by AI answer engines. In the back end, a person posting fills these in, or the AI layer drafts them.
