Limited budget and resources put a strain on town’s maintenance

Editor
RE: Your article published about the Pennindale Road in Mooi River last week.
Our municipality is very small. It is a grade two municipality and comprises of four wards with a population of about 24 000.
We receive a very small equitable share for its functions, hence we are also dependent on grants to implement community needs as articulated by the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). We were able to do one capital project per financial year and we have to rotate the balance for all the wards.
Progress we have made: the lower town roads in ward one, done the Gwala Park roads in ward three, the four rooms residential roads in ward three, the Bruntville Clinic roads intersecting ward one/three.
This financial year we have completed the Phumlasi bus and taxi route in ward one.
We are now crossing to upper town to upgrade the road from the municipality to the Mooi Textile. Subsequent to that we had sent submissions to Cogta for approval and financial support. We were then approved for a grant called Small Town Rehabilitation, whereby we are intending to build most of town’s roads and also buy or hire a grader to excavate gravel roads in wards two and four, so that we can supply water to our rural communities, just as we built them toilets.
The Umngungudlovu District Water and Sanitation Department has given us a budget to lay down a new pipe for the bulk water supply from the Springrove Dam that was open by President Jacob Zuma last year. Subsequent to that we are getting two new reservoirs to compliment the bulk supply one in Rosetta and one in Phumlasi.
The other phase, the district function, we have requested the change of the old water and sanitation infrastructure, we now have a budget to change the old main supply pipe from the Mooi River catchment and water treatment station down to Treverton, followed by the renewal of all domestic users in town, residential areas as well as Bruntville, Riversdale, Pennindale, Phumlasi and Townview.
We have already appointed service providers.
Our local prominent and successful farmers assisted by Midlands Economic Development Forum, have formed the Sengani Dairy Development Project, we intend building two new dams to supplement irrigation and improve agriculture, whilst championing education and skills development on the concept of transformation.
This week there was a gathering blessed by the Deputy Director of Justice Mr John Jeffrys and MEC Ina Cronje from the provincial treasury who have pledged their support for this project.
The municipality is very excited as this has the potential for more jobs and an economic development drive, thanks to stakeholders that is, “Operation Sukuma Sakhe” on our provincial log.
We have previously built 1 400 houses in Townview, still 36 to do and complete the multi purpose centre and a soccer stadium in ward one.
We have built over 900 houses in Gwala Park, preparing to build 80 in the hostel in ward three, we have built 71 houses in Phumlasi and are preparing a contract for the outstanding 329 units in ward one.
We are building 850 houses at Gregiburn (Nyamvubu) ward four, we are about to implement a new project in Ebuhleni, Ekujabuleni, Rockydrift and Muden ward four.
We have new projects in Rosetta Pigfarm, Tendela, Scotfotain and Rounderbosch in ward two.
We are at the initiation stage for a new housing project Riversdale for 64 units that will also encompass the Brickyard, NCD and Pennindale qualifying beneficiaries, thanks to the Department of Human Settlement for their support.
The provincial Department of Transport has assisted us by upgrading the Greytown road interjecting wards one, three and four, Curryspost road interjecting wards one, two and three.
We are waiting for the Environmental Impact Assessment for the upgrade of R103 from Nottingham Road to Mooi River, that includes new bridges and pedestrian walks.
So we are not about false promises, it’s about affordability, limited resources, budget constraints and most of our challenges come from the poor town planning executed by the apartheid government.
On the issue of the previous Municipal Manager, let sleeping dogs lie.
That man is gone, we have got a new management team, led by a new Municipal Manager, Mr Max Moyo, who is a very capable, tried and tested professional.
He has worked with uMsunduzi Municipality and he can deliver, let us support him by stopping electrical bypassing and coming to the municipality to buy electricity so we can maintain and repair all our roads properly.
Electricity is our only major source of income, we all need to play our part, “willing seller, willing buyer, together we can do more” for Mpofana Municipality.
Lastly, editor we have a request from this municipality about overdrafts, rates protests, staff and community protests, we have changed old methods, implemented a balanced scorecard, built up on our revenue collection and we are providing better services.
We are building confidence will all our stakeholders such the farmers association, rates, business, youth and sectional structures so let’s go and vote on May 7 , we can only afford to go forward!
Xolani Magnificent Duma
Chairperson of Infrastructure
Portfolio
Committee and the
Municipal Public Accounts
Committee
Office of the
Municipal
Manager