Presidential Imbizo: Another promise of a better life for Sekhukhune

President Cyril Ramaphosa is leading the eighth Presidential imbizo under the banner of the District Development Model (DDM) on Friday, 14 July 2023.

The event was held at the Motodi Sports Complex in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo province, with high-ranking officials accompanying Ramaphosa.

Presidential imbizo

Ramaphosa engaged with residents directly at the imbizo.

Ahead of the imbizo, residents of the Tubatse Local Municipality district said they were beset by daily service delivery challenges.

President @CyrilRamaphosa is in Limpopo – Sekhukhune District Municipality – for his 8th #PresidentialImbizo since he made an undertaking during his State of the Nation Address. First stop is a visit to the R37 Steelproot-Driekop Interchange road construction project with Acting… pic.twitter.com/bEjv0PZpQe

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— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) July 14, 2023

These challenges ranged from constant water and electricity shortages, dilapidated infrastructure, poverty, and unemployment.

Sophie Makine, a street vendor from Burgersfort, was hopeful that the imbizo would address the lack of water supply.

She also cited poor roads and rampant unemployment as major drawbacks.

Better services for residents

During the Imbizo, a wide and diverse range of essential services were offered on-site, including Education, Transport, Voter Registration, Social Development and Health.

While in the Sekhukhune district, Ramaphosa also inspected progress on the R37 Steelproot-Driekop Interchange road construction project.

“The scope of the project involves new vertical and horizontal alignment, improvement of intersections and accesses, increasing the capacity of bridges and major culverts, ancillary works including fencing, guardrails, signs, and projects aimed at local community development”, government said.

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Previous imbizos

To date, Ramaphosa has visited seven provinces – North West, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northern Cape, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.

In December 2022, Ramaphosa spearheaded the Northern Cape imbizo. While there, the president visited the Redstone Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Thermal Plant in Postmasburg.

Ramaphosa’s visit was a part of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) project.

This initiative is meant to help the electricity system by fostering private sector investment in wind, bio-mass, and hydroelectric power.

WATCH: Ramaphosa roasted over ‘90% of our people have electricity’ remark

District Development Model (DDM)

The DDM is a cooperative governance initiative aimed at expediting service delivery through a district-centric approach.

This provides community members with a unique opportunity to engage with senior government leaders face-to-face.

The presidency said the engagement is designed “to foster collaboration between the government, residents and businesses with the goal to eventually transform all districts in South Africa.

The Sekhukhune District has potential for economic growth but requires plenty of work and collaboration to tap into that potential.