Pretoria - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will this weekend visit KwaZulu-Natal as part of a campaign aimed at eradicating poverty.
Motlanthe will visit the uMsinga municipality in the Mzinyathi district as part of government's War on Poverty Campaign to fast-track the delivery of social and municipal services to improve the lives of the people. The campaign targets the poorest areas in the country assisted by data from Statistics South Africa.
"Deputy President Motlanthe will interact with members of the communities at a community meeting to further highlight and enhance the work of government in the fight against poverty," said the Presidency on Tuesday.
On Saturday, Motlanthe will go on a door-to-door visit in uMsinga accompanied by ministers, the premier and MEC's while on Sunday he will unveil dedicated wards for Tuberculosis (TB) patients constructed at Catherine Booth Hospital. The hospital is located in the Mandeni Municipality of the Uthungulu District.
"The unveiling ceremony is held to highlight government commitment in dealing with the backlog of insufficient infrastructure to cope with the ongoing tuberculosis (TB) epidemic," said the Presidency, adding that infrastructure constraints in existing hospital buildings for TB patients remain a challenge with spatial planning in many buildings impeding the implementation of airborne infection control of diseases such as TB.
The facility will help health professionals in isolating suspected or confirmed TB patients with Extensive Drug-Resistant TB (XDR-TB) emerging on top of the rise in Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB).
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is helping seven provincial Departments of Health with the roll-out of patient accommodation at MDR and XDR TB hospitals with over R92 million being set aside from the International Global Fund for this project.
This is part of its drive to strengthen national and provincial capacity in South Africa for the prevention, care and treatment of HIV and TB.
Motlanthe will be accompanied by Health Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, Premier Zweli Mkhize and other senior government officials.
Additionally various services by the Departments of Home Affairs, Human Settlement, Social Development, Health, Agriculture, Education and the National Development Agency will be available for communities. - BuaNews
