Municipalities join forces
The partnership had also provided youth and women empowerment through programmes on matters of governance and development, and established exchange programmes for councillors on matters of common interest in municipal governance.
MBOMBELA – Four municipalities from Mpumalanga, Swaziland and Mozambique have joined forces to tackle social issues affecting people living in these areas through the Umsebe Accord.
The Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) hosted this year’s instalment of the accord’s business seminar on Friday and councillors, mayors and business people from various regions attended.
Those involved in this intermunicipal agreement were Mbombela, Nkomazi, Matola and Mbabane. The accord was initiated in 2004 through the partnership of the municipalities in the regions to promote business opportunities and local economic development.
The partnership has already yielded fruit. In 2014, the accord arranged a surgery for three-year-old Zwakhele Dlamini from Swaziland. The child was born with polydactylism and syndactylism, which resulted in him having five extra toes. This had also forced him to walk barefoot. A further R320 000 was raised to help his family.
The mayor of MLM, Mr Sibusiso Mathonsi, said the accord was an ideal springboard to develop south-to-south cooperation between the municipalities in the region.
According to Mathonsi, the working relationship between the municipalities had helped grow the efficiency of local municipalities. “This partnership will continue to devise long-lasting solutions on poverty and poor infrastructure. We have also seen the maturity of our local municipalities,” Mathonsi said.
Among other things, the accord had also prioritised cooperation on areas of informal trade and upgrading of informal settlements.
The partnership had also provided youth and women empowerment through programmes on matters of governance and development, and established exchange programmes for councillors on matters of common interest in municipal governance.
The municipalities had also invited business communities in the regions to participate. Mr S’fiso Nkosi, a local businessman, said the seminar presented a lot of business opportunities and networking.
“Because we introduce the services that our various businesses render throughout the seminar, it is easy to network with potential clients and those one can partner with,” Nkosi said.
