Executive mayor and senior traditional leaders discuss development in Mutale

In an effort for the Vhembe district municipality to establish a good relationship with the traditional leadership around the Mutale area, a delegation comprising the executive mayor, councillors and officials recently met with about 100 senior traditional leaders.

During the meeting, in the municipal chamber of Mutale, Executive Mayor Tshitereke Matibe called on the traditional leaders in Mutale to work hand in hand with the district and the local municipality as most of the development and implementation of projects are done in the area of the jurisdiction of traditional leaders.

“We are here to engage with traditional leaders on the integrated development plan (IDP) and we hope we have met with the right people whose development is done right at their areas. Our budget for this financial year is over R1.4 billion and we have set aside R693 million for water and sanitation projects. We also want to unblock some of the boreholes left without water, due to the drought that affects our areas,” said Matibe.

Chief Tshitereke Nemaheni told the gathering that the mayoral bursary fund in the Vhembe district should not target university students only, but even those who dropped out of school as a result of financial problems, so that they could learn some skills at TVET Colleges.

However, incomplete RDP houses in the villages around the traditional leaders and shoddy EPWP workmanship was the talk of many traditional leaders during the meeting.

“We are tired of seeing incomplete RDP houses in our villages, while some contractors have run away with a lot of money and didn’t pay workers. The untarred road between Matavhela and Tshixwadza and the Ha-Khakhu-Siloam road were raised by many traditional leaders who urged that the government needs to prioritise them as taxi and bus operators cannot ferry commuters during rainy days,” added Chief Nemaheni

Representing the senior traditional leaders, Thovhele Vudzidzhena Nethengwe said he was thankful for the engagement of traditional leaders around Mutale with the Vhembe District Municipality as the meeting could pave the way for development. “We are one big family and can win the war against poverty and underdevelopment if we can speak in one voice. We are happy that the district has made more money available for water projects. We hope the scarcity of water could be soon the thing of the past, as our communities used to drink dirty water, some sharing with animals,” Vudzidzhena said.

Date:29 April 2016

By: Silas Nduvheni

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