MBHASHE Local Municipality has embarked on a three-day Mayoral Imbizo, tabling a progress report on the 2024/2025 financial year projects, revealing an expenditure of more than R40 million on service delivery.
Executive Mayor Samkelo Janda said the purpose of the outreach is to engage communities regarding the government programmes that seek to advance service delivery in the Mbhashe area. “The outreach is also meant to close the gap between government and the people by collecting issues raised by the communities, which should be handed over to sector departments in order to uplift the communities. The Mayoral Imbizo is an ongoing outreach programme to bring local government closer to the citizens,” Janda said. The period covered in the report is from July 1 to September 30, 2024.
The municipality embarked on 10 local economic development (LED) infrastructure maintenance projects at a cost of R400 000. A total amount of R125 000 was spent on agricultural roadshows in Gatyana-3, Dutywa-4, and Xhora-3, among other areas. Focusing on cooperative development, Janda said 50 local Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) were capacitated and supported with tools of trade and training. “An amount of R11.4 million, which is 30% of the expenditure, was spent on local SMMEs. Three roadshows were conducted for SMMEs as per the approved concept plan in Dutywa-1, Xhorha-1, and Gatyana-1,” he said.
Events funded by the local authority focusing on tourism included the Ilifa Lo’ Mbhashe signature event, Tenza Beach Festival, and Horse Racing, and participating in Africa’s Travel Indaba & Makhanda Arts Festival. The municipality funded R1 million towards these projects. “The construction of RDP houses has been completed. The Municipality is currently busy with the compilation of 20 more beneficiaries to be added to the scope of work of the contractor. The construction of 292 RDP houses in Xhora has started on site,” he said.
A total of 35.3 km of new access roads were constructed in various wards at a cost of R9.6 million, including:
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3 km from Mkhwezeni to Nqadu Junior Secondary School
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9.8 km from Bolishi to Nqabarha access road
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5 km from Bobani access road
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4.4 km from Ndudumeni to Tywaka
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6.7 km from Ntilini to Botwe
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2.9 km from Ntlahlane access road
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3.5 km from Mgxabakazi access road
The municipality also completed the construction of the Ntlonyane bridge in ward 20 with a budget of R1.4 million. In Ward 8, a roadbed was completed at a cost of R1.8 million to the municipality. The local authority also maintained three separate gravel roads of 20 km each in Gatyana, Xhorha, and Dutywa at R5.7 million, with major renovations at Dutywa Town Hall at R9 million. “The municipality interacts with communities regarding upcoming service delivery projects in their areas and progress on existing ones,” Janda said.
