The Minister in The Presidency responsible for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Collins Chabane today led a delegation of Ministers to Siyathemba, Balfour, as part of the follow up to the surprise visit undertaken by President Jacob Zuma on 4 August 2009.
The purpose of the visit was to consult and provide progress report to the leadership of the council and community structures on interventions to address community challenges and concerns raised. The meeting follows concerns raised by communities during their recent protests relating to inadequate or lack of service delivery in areas of health, education, home affairs, social development, human settlements and others.
Minister Chabane, accompanied by Ministers responsible for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Public Works, Sicelo Shiceka and Geoff Doidge and Mpumalanga MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, MN Mokoena held consultative meeting with members of the Dipaleseng Local Municipality and community structures at Siyathemba Thusong Service Centre.
The meetings recognised legitimate challenges and concerns rose by communities and agreed that they should be addressed as soon as possible. The ministers together with the provincial and local leadership agreed on short, medium and long term interventions which should begin to address challenges and concerns of communities.
The ministerial delegation was also accompanied by among other the Mpumalanga MEC of Health and Social Service, Ms D Mahlangu, Executive Mayor of Gert Sibande District Municipality, Adries Gamede, Mayor of Dipaleseng Local Municipality, Mabalane Tsotetsi and the Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency(NYDA), Andile Lungisa and officials from different government departments.
The following challenges were identified and addressed at the meetings:
Education
The Department of Education identified that schools in the area have not been properly ranked which led to inaccurate or insufficient allocation of budget or subsidies to run their schools. The Department of Education will start a process of re-ranking of quintile of wards and schools.
There are 85 scholars from the neighbouring farms which government provides with transport to attend school. The department has realised the un-sustainability of this project and agreed to explore the feasibility of introducing boarding school facilities in Siyathemba.
The government together with all stakeholders will continue to explore the feasibility of establishing a further education and training (FET) college. In the short term, is the consideration of a satellite college with Gert Sibande FET in Siyathemba.
Social and economic infrastructure
In response to unemployment challenges, government will support the existing community initiatives aimed at fighting unemployment and poverty, for example community laundry and cooking oil projects.
National and provincial government will assist in the alignment of Integrated Development Plan (IDP) to the municipal budget and ensure that projects identified in the Social Labour Plans (SLP) by the Department of Mineral Resources are implemented. The Burnstone Mine has made a commitment to source the workforce from the local community, spend R100 million through procurement in the province, to set up a Dipaleseng Foundation, upgrade Steward Street at R3,5 million, and renovate two multi-purpose centres, Itumeleng and Greylingstad.
The mine also committed to renovate the Amukelani Primary School, provide bursaries to five learners within the municipality for tertiary education, establish a waste recycling cooperative with opportunities to create employment and establish a community run nursery. All these projects are anticipated to reduce the unemployment and poverty challenges in the municipality.
Service delivery issues
The Department of Home Affairs will now be extending services from two days a week to five days a week at the Thusong Service Centre in Siyathemba. The department will also provide mobile services to remote surrounding areas in partnership with the Department of Social Development. The services which will be provided include registration of social grants to deserving beneficiaries with alternative documents while Home Affairs rolls out its services to address the backlogs, improving the municipal indigent register and home affairs services.
Department of Social Development will also draw in faith based organisations and expand the "Ke Moja" programme for young people and will also finalise all outstanding foster placement cases so that all children are placed and can access the foster care grant.
Housing
The provincial government has decided to complete all incomplete houses in the province this financial year and Siyathemba has been included in the priority list. The Dipaleseng Local Municipality has budgeted for 100 houses which will be built within the current financial year.
Crime
A Community Policing Forum will be established with the community and the process is already underway, led by the Department of Police. The province is also exploring the feasibility of establishing a satellite office in the short term and building a police station in the long term.
Youth issues
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) committed among others to establish an NYDA office in Siyathemba, assist the municipality to finalise municipal youth policy and strategy, facilitate issues of skills development through public and private sector initiatives, the establishment of a youth council in Siyathemba and will further convene a Skills Development Summit by end of October.
Health
The MECs of Health in Gauteng and Mpumalanga, Dikeledi Mahlangu and Qedani Mahlangu have agreed in principle to sign an agreement governing a relationship that will allow access of the Siyathemba community to the public hospital in Heidelburg, Gauteng.
The Mpumalanga Department of Health will address challenges of the local clinic to ensure it can remain open on a 24 hour basis and in some days in the week schedule doctors to be on call.
Enquiries:
Harold Maloka
Cell: 082 847 9799
Issued by: The Presidency
7 September 2009
