Deputy ministers and mayor gear up to clean Mbombela
The clean up was part of the Joint Imbizo campaign that aims to address a variety of issues including the neglect and vandalism of government infrastructures, rising poverty levels and service delivery.
The deputy minister of public works and infrastructure, Bernice Swarts, the deputy minister in The Presidency for planning, monitoring and evaluation, Pinky Kekana, and the City of Mbombela’s executive mayor, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, embarked on a Joint Imbizo on June 8.
The imbizo’s aim was to fast-track service delivery and mitigate the challenges the community members and the country at large are grappling with, such as the high unemployment rate, the neglect and vandalism of government infrastructure, rising poverty levels and inadequate delivery of basic services.
It entailed patching of potholes, cleaning up various municipal parks and disability centres, picking up litter and planting trees.
The joint imbizo focused on the city’s theme: “Rolling up our sleeves to develop our communities”
Makushe-Mazibuko said the week-long imbizo had already exceeded her expectations as a result of the overwhelming support they received from everyone in the area. “We are grateful to the district, province and nation for enhancing our efforts when we said we would be rolling up our sleeves.”
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In her address, Swarts said, “Once again, we must pull our sleeves and clean our backyards and streets. In so doing, we will not only restore our self-worth and godly nature, we will also restore the beauty, integrity and well-being of Mbombela and Mpumalanga.”
She said through the imbizo, they were able to show that if they all work together, they can all turn the villages, towns, cities and rural areas into parts of a South Africa of which they can be truly proud.
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“We applaud patriots and communities who earlier on participated in our cleaning campaign, patching potholes, and cleaning the storm water drainage at Valencia. We also used the day to plant 100 trees at the park in Stonehenge. We will be doing so again in other two districts, including Gert Sibande. We must also educate communities about the value of recycling plastic and other forms of litter,” she said.
