Public Works Minister TW Nxesi, MP, officially opened the new offices of the Sakhisizwe Local Municipality at Cala in the Chris Hani District Municipality, Eastern Cape on Friday, 27 September 2013. The Minister was also at hand when the Ndondo Square Community Hall was opened. The Community Hall is named after the local stalwart of the freedom struggle, Batandwa Ndondo, who was killed in a raid by the South African Defence Force (SADF) troops in Mthatha in the early 1990’s.
In his key-note address at both sites of the handover of these community facilities, the Minister emphasised the importance of community involvement in the planning and delivery of community facilities. He asked the community to look after their facilities and not allow them to deteriorate through vandalism.
The Minister chided people who collaborate with thieves and vandals and who look away when community facilities are being stripped or vandalised. He also expressed his wish that any form of fraud and corruption be uprooted. “We need to enforce zero tolerance of fraud and corruption and reject perverse tenderpreneurs – both within the movement and within the broader society and the government,” he said.
Minister Nxesi congratulated the Sakhisizwe Municipality about its job creation strategy. The Municipality has taken a conscious decision to buy its own implements and machinery in order to undertake public works like fixing roads, potholes and other public infrastructure. This has obviated the need for tenders as the work is done by the municipal workers and labour-intensive methods are used, which creates more job opportunities.
The Minister congratulated the Department of Public Works in the Eastern Cape, which was responsible for the building of both facilities as well as the role of the EPWP in ensuring that people from the community were employed in the building of the facilities.
The Minister informed the public that the government is forging ahead with the provision of infrastructure for economic growth and jobs, as well as overall development. He informed them of the work that is being done by the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Council (PICC) which is driving the comprehensive plan which is meant to address the legacy of apartheid spatial development as well as to use infrastructure development as a lead sector in developing the necessary economic linkages.
