Next phase of electrification project kicks off

Monday, September 6, 2010

Musina - Nearly 300 homes in the Limpopo border town of Musina will benefit from the second phase of a R2.1 million electrification project which started on Friday.

Altogether 291 households in extensions 9 and 10 are expected to have electricity by November 15.

"The first phase of electrification covered 594 houses and the remaining 291 beneficiaries will be covered during the current phase," said Musina municipal spokesman Wilson Dzebu on Monday.

The project is being funded by the Musina local municipality and the Vhembe district municipality.
There are a total of 885 households in extensions 9 and 10, which used to be an informal settlement called Sihlala Nge Nkani, which means staying by force.

The newly renamed extensions were officially handed over to the residents by former MEC for Local Government and Housing Maite Nkoana Mashabane in March last year.

Dzebu said the electrification project was an indication of "greater things to come".

"The municipality is well placed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of providing electricity to all its people by 2014," he said. "We are not relenting in our efforts to push development..."

One resident, Solomon Ramaru, said he was looking forward to no longer collecting firewood in the veld.

"Life was very difficult without electricity. We don't have enough words to extend our gratitude to our political leaders. This is what we call service delivery on our doorstep," he said.