President Zuma says government will intensify its service delivery programme in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape
The President today, 24 June 2017, conducted a Siyahlola Presidential Monitoring Visit to Lusikisiki, that had a strong emphasis on building Safer Communities and the improvement of Service Delivery in the area.
President Zuma began his visit by taking a guided tour of the new Lusikisiki Police Station, which he remarked was modern and had sufficient facilities to tackle head on the challenge of crime.
"We believe that this new police station will make a significant contribution to our fight to reduce crime in this community and defeat the scourge particularly of gangsterism in the form of 'Amavondo', about which I have received a number of complaints," said the President.
President Zuma then proceeded to the community engagement part of his visit where community members voiced their grievances and also provided suggestions.
They told the President that government needed to address the root causes of crime and gangsterism, which were unemployment and the delivery of essential services to the community. They especially appealed to the President to help promote investments in the area and that there was enough land for factories and industries to be built.
The community also asked for the improvement of the R61 road.
The Ministers of Police, Justice and Social Development as well as the Premier and Provincial and Local government leaders undertook to attend to all the issues raised by the community and directed them to begin by accessing the mobile services that they had brought to the community engagement. Other community members recorded their challenges with the various government departments represented at the Siyahlola Monitoring Visit.
President Zuma concluded the programme by undertaking to ensure that all the levels of government he brought to Lusikisiki worked speedily together to address all the challenges of the community. He said he would be asking for updates on progress especially from the departments he had brought with including Social Development, Justice, Energy, Water and Sanitation as well as the Police.
In particular, the Minister of Police announced that the new Lusikisiki Police Station would be officially opened on 1 August 2017.
However, the President made a strong appeal to members of the community not to take the law into their own hands.
"I would be failing in my responsibility," he said "If I don't tell you that nobody has a right to kill or burn anybody! Suspected criminals must be handed to the police. Allow the law to take its cause."
At the conclusion of the community engagement, the President visited the St Elizabeth Hospital which provides primary health care services to the Lusikisiki community and surrounding villages. He was briefed by hospital management on the dire need for water at the hospital and other essentials such as professional staff, medicines, specialists nurses and doctors as well as the construction of new wards.
The hospital management also complained to the President about a construction in the hospital that built only the basement and stopped construction "mysteriously in 2010". The President undertook to bring the matter and other issues raised to the Departments of Health and Public Works.
"I am very certain that now that we have brought this Siyahlola visit to Lusikisiki the services are going to follow and the Departments will deliver on their promises. That is why I have brought them here. But everywhere that we have taken this programme especially in rural areas, positive change has resulted in these communities," said President Zuma.
President Zuma then appealed to the community to work with Government especially the new Police Station to build safer communities in Lusikisiki.
The President was accompanied by the Premier of the Eastern Cape, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs and mayors.
Enquiries:
Dr Bongani Ngqulunga
Cell: 082 308 9373
E-mail: bongani@presidency.gov.za
