The health and general lifestyle of the residents of the Sibongile Township and neighbouring previously disadvantaged communities is set to improve drastically from Saturday.
Their lives will definitely not be the same again following the development of a new gym and leisure park which was officially opened on Saturday by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube, ending many years of a threat of disease due to the now-defunct animal makeshift kraals that were misplaced in close vicinity of households.
Named after liberation struggle stalwart Mama Majuba Mhlungu, the R3.5 million facility was developed through the provincial Department of COGTA’s Small Town Rehabilitation programme, whose strategy is to turn the areas where people reside into properly planned living and economic zones where people can eat, live and play without any lack of recreational facilities that are key to healthy bodies and healthy growing minds.
The livestock have been properly relocated not far from the reach of the owners but not too close to the residents where they would otherwise pose a health hazard.

Not long after the park was officially opened scores of children flocked into the park and enjoyed the facility thoroughly.
“When we talk about rehabilitating areas that have a potential to generate local economy, the Sbongile Township is one of the examples of our work. Such areas can serve as multi-purpose centres, providing safe and secure residential areas but also provide facilities that would otherwise be found far away in the towns.
“The reason we have many challenges with people flocking into cities in search of a means of making a living, is because of poor spatial planning of the past, which was in line with separate development draconian systems.
Today why not have the area where people live providing a source of income and leisure facilities,” said an elated Dube-Ncube.
Why name the park after Mama Mhlungu?:
She was a former political prisoner, having been detained for years without a trial by the apartheid government, owing her role in organising to the now ruling ANC’s structures in the Midlands, working with the likes of Nelson Mandela, Harry Gwala, Dorothy Nyembe, among many other founding leaders of the ANC.
She was pivotal in the strengthening of today’s ANC women’s league in the region.
She leaves behind her only two surviving daughters, Kiki Mhlungu and Poppy Mhlungu-Khoza, the serving CEO of the SA Civil Aviation Authority, who was also present on the day to witness the historical unveiling of the facility that is named after her mother.
The dark cloud that befell the family when, in a small space of a year, she lost her husband and seven of her children, did little to dampen her spirits to continue serving under the democratic dispensation of today to move South Africa forward to equality and joblessness.
On her departure, she was a serving member of the Executive Committee at Endumeni Municipal Council.
relationship with the late stalwart, mincing no words in attributing her growth in the ANC leadership to the mentorship and stewardship received from Mama Mhlungu.Commenting about the decision of the council to name the park after Mama Mhlungu, Dube-Ncube became emotional as she took the delegation through her close working relationship with the late stalwart, mincing no words in attributing her growth in the ANC leadership to the mentorship and stewardship received from Mama Mhlungu.