President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted an Imbizo with the community members at Tsomo Hall in Tsomo, last week.
This was the ninth District Development Model (DDM) Presidential Imbizo of the current administration.
According to Government Communications and Information System (GCIS) provincial manager, Ndlelantle Pinyana, the inaugural DDM Presidential Imbizo was held in March 2022, in Mmabatho, Northwest Province.
He said it was then taken to other provinces, with the Eastern Cape being the last province to be visited.
“This programme is primarily aimed at assessing service delivery and the availability of enabling infrastructure, evaluating levels of coordination across all spheres of government and interacting with communities over the challenges they face,” said Pinyana.
He added that the DDM is an integrated planning model for co-operative governance which seeks to ensure integrated, district-based service delivery.
Pinyana added that during his visits in all nine provinces, Ramaphosa, together with members of his cabinet, engaged directly with the communities and stakeholders, addressing their concerns and mapping solutions that will enable integrated services delivery.
“With the participation of leadership from the National, Provincial and Local spheres of government, Ramaphosa’s visits facilitated meaningful community engagement. He ensured that government programmes and initiatives were tailored to meet the needs and priorities of residents.”
He said that in his arrival in Tsomo Town, Ramaphosa visited the Tsomo River Abstraction and Water Treatment Works Project.
The water treatment plant is a cross-boundary water supply project abstracting water from the Tsomo River, serving the towns and rural settlements in two district municipalities, i.e Chris Hani District Municipality (Intsika Yethu and Engcobo communities) and Amathole District Municipality (Mnquma Local Municipality).Pinyana added that the cost to the completion of the project is estimated at R553 million.
Currently, the plant delivers a capacity of 25 megalitres per day.
“A further upgrade of the Water Treatment Works to 42 megalitres per day will cost an additional R353 million to cater for Butterworth, Centane and villages who are under Mnquma Local Municipality. He proceeded to preside over an interactive session with the community, where a range of service delivery issues were raised, including the shortage of water, road infrastructure and high unemployment rate. He offered ministers an opportunity to respond and update the community on plans to resolve some of the issues raised.
