POLOKWANE – Mayor Thembi Nkadimeng says she has learnt a lot and worked very hard over the past 100 days as mayor.
“I need a holiday now!” Nkadimeng joked with members of the media yesterday (Wednesday) morning.
She said the city had definitely not regressed during the last couple of months.
Planned initiatives started before her appointment, were still on track. She said she had held seven community meetings with the emphasis on service delivery, met with all the traditional leaders in the municipality except one, as well as people in business, religious leaders, and many other stakeholders.
One of her priorities was the replacement of old infrastructure such as water- and sewage pipes. “We are losing more water through water leaks than through usage,” Nkadimeng said.
She said the municipality could not afford a new waste treatment plant. “Seshego’s plant does not have enough capacity and public-private partnerships need to be established to build new infrastructure. There is a budget of R80 million from Anglo Platinum for the upgrading of the Polokwane plant,” she said.
Regarding the availability of electricity, Nkadimeng said solar energy would have to be investigated as an alternative to provide more electricity. She said a grant of R25 million had been received from the department of energy.
Following the approval of the integrated rapid public transport system by the city council, non-motorised transport projects amounting to R60 million had been advertised by the municipality, Nkadimeng said. She said the money for these projects would come from national government grants.
Other key infrastructure projects include:
• Smart metering that accommodates provision of prepaid water and electricity. This will help reduce distribution losses and enhance revenue collection capacity of the municipality.
• Implementation of broadband connectivity that will allow government and business to tap on the convenience and other benefits of e-governance.
• Build new electricity substations and explore alternatives renewable energy sources (solar).
• The municipality advertised and awarded 11 out of 14 regional water scheme projects funded by grants. The remaining two projects were delayed so that their implementation can overlap to new financial year. The Mankweng regional water scheme is at the stage of being advertised.
• The municipality has appointed a contractor to construct ventilated pit latrines in rural areas catering for a total of 2 351 at the cost of R27,8 million.
