Kwaggafontein – Residents of Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga have expressed hope ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s visit to the town on Friday.
The small Mpumalanga town is the latest to be visited by President Zuma as part of the Siyhlola Presidential Monitoring visit, a programme that enables the President to interact directly with communities and monitor the performance of all three spheres of government and their impact on citizens. Kwaggafontein is located in the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality in the Nkangala District of Mpumalanga. It has a population of 45 000, according to information on the municipality’s website.
This week, the Presidency said the visit forms part of the Back to Basics 10-Point local government revitalisation plan which was launched in 2014, and which also promotes community engagement.
During the visit, President Zuma will assess three projects which the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality is rolling out to its residents to improve their livelihoods. During the visit, the president will be flanked by no less than 10 of his Cabinet ministers.
Near the venue, vendors could be seen on Thursday afternoon already setting up their stalls, clearly eager to take advantage of the scores of people expected to descend on the local stadium to listen to the President.
Locals were specific about issues they want to speak to the President about. Top of their list was the scarcity of water followed by unemployment and issues related to housing.
“I have lived in Kwaggafontein all my life and in recent times one of the main problems we are having is lack of access to clean water, it’s a serious problem that I want the President to hear about,” Bongani Mshweni told SAnews on Thursday.
“We have hope that when he comes here we will be able to engage with the government and the President in particular so that our challenges can be addressed,” he said.
Another resident told SAnews he was happy about the President’s visit and hopes it will profile the town, adding that issues of access to housing was what he wanted the President to speak to.
In a statement, the Presidency listed several projects the President will be visiting. These include a new Reservoir and Pipeline at KwaMhlanga, which entails the addition of infrastructure such as bulk pipe line and concrete chambers with flow meters and control valves and rehabilitation of two boreholes at KwaMhlanga Hospital, which entails installation of two pumps with pipeline, supply and installation of panels and reconnection to existing tanks at the hospital.
President Zuma will also handover completed houses to families of the Thembisile Hani Local Municipality who have been living in shacks. – SAnews.gov.za
