Partnership between government and members of the public to enhance service delivery took a centre stage as the State President Jacob Zuma and the Minister of Water Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa accompanied by six other cabinet Ministers took time off their busy schedules to visit the North West’s Ngobi village.
This came as a response to a request from a community member Ms Mmatsheko Pine for government intervention in solving water challenges in her area.
Pine wrote an e-mail to the President indicating that the Ngobi, under Moretele Local Municipality has been without water for the past two years and as a result people rely on harvesting rain water. She also indicated that water pipes and machines are installed but the problem is lack of pump pressure.
The President highlighted this plea in his State of The Nation Address in February this year. Water is life and Government takes access to water and other basic services very seriously. Also because this is a responsive government, the Presidency then sent a contingent of Ministers led by the President to Ngobi village to address some of the challenges the community faces and to engage them face to face.
As a result of that visit, the area's 11 boreholes which were not functioning due to pump pressure problems have been properly serviced and are now providing water around the Ngobi and the Selepe areas, while an additional 10 are being constructed.
“The construction of a 2.5ml water reservoir has already started in the area as part of the Ngobi Water Project, which also involved the electrification of boreholes and construction of pump stations” said Molewa.
Members of the community got an opportunity to engage the President and the ministerial delegation on service delivery issues at a community meeting that took place later in the day.
Earlier in the day the President opened the South African Social Security Services Agency (SASSA) Service Point which will also have a doctor on site who will do assessments thus saving money for beneficiaries who had been used to travelling long distances for assessments, as the doctor was far.
Also he visited two other households in Ngobi village to see their plight first hand. As a final visit he stopped at a local school before heading to the marquee where he had an imbizo. At the school he observed the handover of computer technology and a mobile lab that was donated to the school by Kusile Lab which is a massive step in improving the quality of rural schools.
The President expressed his appreciation for the gesture that Kusile Lab has made and called on the youth to embrace science and technology and he concluded by appealing to business to land a hand in uplifting education especially in rural areas.
