Question NW2432 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
24 December 2021 - NW2432
Mabika, Mr M to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
What steps will she take to help the community of the Hlokohloko area in uMhlabuyalingana Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, to resolve the issues of (a) water, (b) electricity, (c) roads and (d) unemployment as identified during a visit on 21 October 2021?
Reply:
a. Water: The municipality is working close with the District Municipality as the service provider to ensure that communities get access to clean basic water.
b. Electricity: The municipality recently rolled out electrification project (household connections) in the close vicinity through the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP) Grant Funding, These will be rolled out until all areas are saturated, ESKOM is also electrifying a number of areas in the municipality, the objective is to collectively reach universal access for Umhlabuyalingana citizens (Hlokohloko area is already planned for by ESKOM to be electrified in the next two year rolling plan. It is at design stage now. The project is known as Madonela Phase 2).
c. Roads: The area is accessed via D1834 which is owned and maintained by DoT, the municipality purchased yellow plant (X1 Grader, X2 TLBs, X2 Tipper Trucks, X1 Water Cart) to internally maintain its access roads, there is a ward- based plan and this area will also be attended to in line with the said plan.
d. Employment Opportunities: The municipality as with the rest of the country, is facing deepening unemployment rates, however, there are structured programs that assist with creation of job opportunities ranging from short term relief programs to more sustainable ones, e.g. Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) & Community Works Programme (CWP).
To illustrate employment opportunities through Community Works Programme (CWP) as at end October 2021: In uMhlabuyalingana Municipality there were 1746 participants in the programme of which 186 were youth, 1573 non-youth of which 1449 were female while in respect of Hlokohloko area participants were 44 of which 3 were youth and 36 women.
Cabinet has also approved the District Development Model (DDM) as an All of Government and Society Approach by which all three spheres of government and state entities work in unison in an impact-oriented way, where there is higher performance and accountability for coherent and effective service delivery and development outcomes.
The DDM aims to improve integrated planning and delivery across the three spheres of government in a spatially targeted way focused on the 52 district and metropolitan spaces as convergence points for all of government and private sector investment, which includes the development of communities in rural mining areas. The envisaged integrated planning and delivery in relation to district and metropolitan spaces will be enabled by joint planning, budgeting and implementation processes.
The DDM focusses on implementation of immediate priority projects, stabilisation of local government and long-term institutionalisation of integrated planning, budgeting and delivery anchored on the development and implementation of the “One Plan” in relation to each district and metropolitan space.