The Free State Province will once again host the District Development Model (DDM) Presidential Imbizo, on Thursday, 07 December 2023, at Kopano Indoor Sports Centre in Thabong Welkom, Lejweleputswa District Municipality.
The Premier of the Free State, Mxolisi Dukwana welcomes the President’s decision to visit the Province as part of the second round of the DDM Presidential Imbizo. The Premier emphasised the importance of the DDM Presidential Imbizo as a platform that reinforces the founding principles of our participatory democracy and highlighted that it gives impetus to the province’s concerted efforts towards bettering the lives of Free State residents.
The DDM Presidential Imbizo as an interactive platform, allows communities to engage and interact with the President, Ministers and the provincial and local leadership. This engagement aims to engage with communities, listen to their concerns, and provide answers and lasting solutions to socioeconomic challenges confronting them on a daily basis.
The Matjhabeng municipal economy is mainly anchored on the mining of gold and uranium and is the hub of the Free State Goldfields. In his maiden SOPA address this year, Premier Dukwana outlined his visionary plan which is to turn Free State into an energy hub. It is for this reason that the province hosted a successful Energy Security Indaba last month at PACOFS in Bloemfontein. The indaba brought DDM to life as it was also attended by neighbouring provinces who shared case studies and success stories, in an effort to help improve the quality of lives of South Africans, in the affected provinces neighbouring the FS.
With the Free State having lost 3000 jobs as per the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS Q3:2023) compared to 59 000 in QLFS Q2:2023, the task at hand, becomes all the more important and urgent.
To this effect, the DDM enhances integrated and sustainable service delivery through the maximisation of intergovernmental planning, budgeting and implementation towards creating inclusive economic opportunities for locals. Th DDM also aims to intensify the provisioning of services, promotes social cohesion and advance the developmental state agenda, in line with the National Development Plan and Growth and Development Strategies of the province.
The Lejweleputswa DDM Presidential Imbizo follows on the commitments the Free State Provincial Government made to tackle service delivery challenges during the 2022 Imbizo which was held in Bloemfontein (April 2022). Thus, this Imbizo will also take stock of the progress made since the last Presidential Imbizo in the province.
Ahead of the Imbizo, government across the three spheres, including state entities will embark on the pre-Imbizo build-up programmes. This programme will see government engaging communities where they stay and assisting to solve their problems. Communities will also be afforded an opportunity to engage with government officials on challenges confronting them on a daily basis.
The Province will, during this pre-Imbizo programme, launch the Greenest and Cleanest Municipality Competition. Government is mandated to give effect to the right of citizens to reside in an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing, and to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations as per section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996). To this end, the government provides leadership in environmental management, conservation, and protection towards sustainability for the benefit of South Africans .
Communities around the Lejweleputswa District Municipality are urged to come and engage directly with the President and his members of the executives by attending and actively participating in the Presidential DDM Imbizo which will be held under the theme “Leave No One Behind”.
Enquiries:
Sello Dithebe
Spokesperson to the Premier
Free State, Provincial Government
Cell: 0608434042
E-mail: sello.dithebe@fspremier.gov.za
Palesa Chubisi
Director: Media Liaison and Strategy
Office of the Premier
Cell: 078 063 7945
E-mail: palesa.chubisi@fspremier.gov.za
