The Mpumalanga premier, Mandla Ndlovu, has been engaging with the community and its various traditional council leaders, since last September 08.

He was joined by the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature’s speaker, Lindi Masina, and all the MEC’s at the Mandla Magudulela Stadium on Friday September 13.

A number of issues were raised by the aboNdabezitha, including housing shortages, mud houses, water shortages, sewerage spillages, the conditions of health facilities, the state of road infrastructure, a lack of sports facilities and inadequate basic service delivery in general.
“The challenges of poor roads and ageing water and sewage infrastructure cannot be underestimated. Every village and every township has similar problems. The other problem that seems to be spreading like wildfire is crime at schools,” Ndlovu said.

During the opening of the seventh Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, Ndlovu had promised to conduct engagement meetings with all municipalities in the province to identify critical areas that need special attention and to come up with strategies to address them. “As part of our strategy to target basic services delivery, we have directed all our municipalities, including Emkhondo Local Municipality, to set aside at least 75% of their municipal infrastructure grant’s allocation to address water, sanitation and road infrastructure challenges. In addition, we have made a commitment to prioritise the eradication of the mud houses in eMkhondo by building decent houses, which will improve the dignity of our people.

“The community of eMkhondo asked for an improvement in sanitation, and we completed a project that benefitted 833 households. To alleviate challenges of waste treatment, we bought two specialised waste vehicles and an excavator.”
While also committing to service delivery, he promised to give special attention to traditional councils. “We had the honour to officiate at the handover of the newly constructed offices to the Madabukela Royal House, which will help deliver government services and continue to present Amakhosi with befitting gifts as a sign of the respect we have for them. Amakhosi remain a critical stakeholder of government in ensuring that relevant services are brought to the communities.”

Moreover, Ndlovu committed to appoint 287 traditional chiefs in Mpumalanga.