VAALPARK – The Metsimaholo Municipality, under the leadership of Executive Mayor Jeff Zwane, hosted a public participation meeting for the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) in preparation for the 2024/2025 Reviewed IDP.
The meeting, held at the Vaalpark Primary School in Sasolburg, brought together key municipal figures, including Councillors of Metsimaholo, and senior management.
With a small audience, the meeting served as a platform to discuss the projects that have been successfully implemented since the start of the 2022/23 fiscal year and the municipality’s vision for the future.
Zwane, who chaired the meeting, expressed his gratitude to the residents of Vaalpark for their active involvement in shaping the future of the municipality.
He emphasized that the IDP is a crucial document that guides the municipality’s development efforts, and public participation is essential in ensuring its success.
Speaking to Sedibeng Ster following the meeting, Zwane highlighted the reason for the roadshow.
“We started with our first IDP roadshow at the municipality where we addressed four wards and today, we are addressing three wards of Vaalpark. We are giving an account on the IDP and reviewing our work on what we have achieved, not yet achieved and how we are going to work on making progress,” he said.
“We are also outlining innovative ways for the things we are about to implement using municipal grunts and our own funding which are contributions of rates and taxes,” he said.
The mayor said the municipality faces issues of residents who are reluctant to pay for services.
“We are happy about Vaalpark people as they are paying their rates and taxes, however, we are also encountering other wards that are not paying accordingly, which deter the service delivery processes to pay,” he said.
Zwane shared some of the key problems the municipality is facing such as high mast light, and potholes among other problems.
“We are working on the issue of streetlights, and potholes as the biggest challenges in this area. This is not an issue we can produce overnight, but we are working tirelessly in making sure we deliver to our people,” he said.
