Limpopo Premier, Stanley Chupu Mathabatha together with members of the Executive Committee, hosted an EXCO Outreach Programme at Sefihlogo village in Lephalale on 15 September 2017. The programme is part of Government’s initiative to interact directly with communities on issues of service delivery.
The Premier kick started the day by officially opening the Moses Monanyane Sports Complex worth R32 million in Shongoane Village. The complex will be used for various sporting activities and will assist in developing sports in Shongoane and surrounding villages. Mathabatha and his entourage proceeded to Mukuruanyane where he conducted a sod-turning ceremony to mark the official commencement of the construction of Mukuranyane, Lerupurupung and Mmaletswai access roads. The access roads worth more than R52 million will create temporary jobs for local residents and 30% of the projects’s worth will be reinfursed to local SMME’s as guided by the National Government Preferential Procurement Policy and the Municipality’s Council resolution.
Community members used the imbizo as a platform to voice challenges relating to service delivery and also appreciated the good work by the Municipality since Local Mayor, Cllr Jack Maeko, took over as a Mayor. Amongst some of the challenges raised are lack of clinics, lack of technical colleges that will assist learners who travel lengthy distances to access education, lack of support in agricultural projects, lack of sporting facilities, lack of a school of excellence for learners participating in sporting activities, dilapidated schools, lack of funds to assist women cooperatives, growing population resulting in an increased need for more RDP houses, a need tar roads in villages etc.
In responding, the premier started by appreciating all inputs given by the community members and assured them that all issues raised at the Imbizo will be forwarded to relevant Departments for intervention. He said the participation of community members assists government in prioritising areas of focus in terms of service delivery needs.
The Mayor, said all projects opened and launched prior the Imbizo are part of the Municipality’s mandate of delivering services to the people and developing rural villages to align with the vision of the Municipality of Building a vibrant City and the energy hub. He said even though a lot still has to be done to develop rural areas of Lephalale, the Municipality appreciates the contribution made by investors such as Eskom-Medupi, Exxaro, Ledjadja Coal Mine (Boikarabelo) etc.
In addressing unemployment, the Mayor launched four programmes targeting local youth:
- Youth Brigade programme to train local youth in construction related courses.
- Security training programme for 650 local unemployed youth.
- Driver’s license training for 100 local matriculants.
- Artisanship training for learners currently studying engineering courses.