Ekurhuleni’s executive mayor, Clr Mondli Gungubele, launched the R101-million Lungile Mstshali Community Development Project, at Germiston Lake, on February 11.
The project, which is the first of its kind, will see each ward in the city receiving R1-m for the community to spend in developmental projects of their choice.
Lungile Mtshali is a former councillor of Ekurhuleni who died in 2010, after a short illness.
Mtshali was, among other things, the MMC for Finance, and, just before her death, was looking at poverty levels in the city and initiated the Community Development Project.
This came to be known as the R1-m per ward project and was later officially named the Lungile Mtshali Community Development Project, by the metro.
She was known to be a servant of the people who was always at the forefront of the community’s needs.
“Seeing that she initiated the project, we honour her legacy by naming the programme after her,” said the MMC of City Planning and Economic Development, Clr Bennet Nikani.
Speaking at the launch, Gungubele, who announced the intervention during the State of the City Address, last year, said the time had come for communities to become actively involved in the development of their communities.
“The Lungile Mtshali Community Development Project is a ward-based project aimed at creating jobs and fighting poverty in the region, and for me the key issue of this programme is active citizenship,” said Gungubele.
He added that such projects are pivotal for a municipality which has an unemployment rate of 28.8 per cent, 40 per cent of whom are young people.
“When this programme is successfully run, years down the line community participation and innovation should have gone higher,” Gungubele added.
“This can also be viewed as the metro’s intervention to build an active and responsive citizenry in our efforts to fast-track service delivery in the region,” said Gungubele.
The mayor said people must not be misled into thinking that this is the entire budget for community and infrastructure development in the city, as the metro will continue delivering and broadening services to communities with its annual budget of R30-billion.
The Lungile Mtshali Community Development Project aims to create more than 3 000 jobs in the region.
Projects will be centred around energy efficiency; water and sanitation; wetlands rehabilitation and waste management, greening and landscaping.
“Some people may think that the amount is not enough,” Gungubele said.
“However, for us it is not about the money but the intervention of building active and responsive citizens who will be able to deal with the developmental issues of their areas, while addressing the scourge of poverty.
“This project allows our people to get directly involved in the upkeep of their areas and to learn critical skills that will take them off the streets in the future.”
According to the mayor, the city will continue allocating the R1-m per ward for the next three financial years, starting this year.
Qualifying projects are intended to serve as a catalyst for skills growth, poverty alleviation, job creation and urban renewal.
The function, on February 11, was predominantly a media launch and the official launch will be held on February 22, at the Edenvale Stadium.
“I remain confident that more jobs are going to be created by this programme,” concluded Gungubele.
