The State of the District (SOD) address was delivered with aplomb and the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and final budget were adopted at the Gert Sibande District Municipality (GSDM) last Thursday, 24 May.
The event kicked off with glitz and glamour as political figures of all seven local municipalities walked the red carpet in front of the towering GSDM building.
After community consultations throughout the district, the IDP and final budget were tabled to Council for deliberations and approval, with the executive mayor of GSDM, Mr M Chirwa, presenting it to those in attendance.
Mr Chirwa began proceedings by sending condolences to the Nzima family for the loss of the struggle veteran, Mr Sam Nzima, who took what became the well-known photo of Hector Pieterson in the Soweto uprising.
The mayor went on to acknowledge 2018 as the year of Mr Nelson Mandela and Ms Albertina Sisulu.
Mr Chirwa announced the new vision and mission of GSDM after extensive consultations with all relevaent stakeholders.
“The new vision is a community-driven district of excellence and development and to support and co-ordinate our local municipalities to provide excellent services and development,” said Mr Chirwa.
- The mayor proceeded to get to the nitty gritty of the budget, saying they have set aside R1.6 million for the promotion of GSDM and R1 milion for Izimbizo in the 2018/2019 financial year.
- A total of R600 000 was set aside for the training and capacity building of all ward committees and councillors, with Mr Chirwa encouraging ward committee members to use this opportunity to upgrade their studies.
- A budget of R2.3 million was budgeted for public participation and voter education and will be used for the promotion of democracy and to mobilise the general public to check their addresses, an ID taking campaign and to conduct general basic voter education.
- Msukaligwa Municipality will receive a budget of R10 million for projects with the emphasis on GSDM providing sufficient water to the Sheepmoor community.
“The Department of Water and Sanitation has authorised the tapping of water from the Jericho Dam. This is an achievement that needs to be applauded,” said Mr Chirwa.
The project was initially allocated R5 million by GSDM and it is expected that Sheepmoor residents must have clean and reliable water as soon as possible.
Road users will be glad to know that sufficient funds have been set aside to deal with potholes and that Msukaligwa’s Oosthuizen Street and many other roads are being prioritised.
- The purchasing of a pothole patching truck to be used by local municipalities is set to cost R3.2 million and will be procured in this financial year.
- Youth development will get R2 million, the Rights of Children R500 000 and the Women’s Support programme will get R200 000.
- R700 000 was budgeted for the support of traditional leaders for their traditional ceremonies (Imimemo) while of sport and recreation was allocated R1 million.
- HIV/Aids programmes will receive R700 000 and R250 000 was allocated to people living with disabilities.
Mr Chirwa went on to say they have established the Gert Sibande District Financial Management Support Unit that will work on a permanent basis to help local municipalities to improve their financial management.
“This is to assist all municipalities to attain clean audit outcomes.”
