Thohoyandou - More than 600 poor households in Limpopo's Mutale area will receive RDP houses by April next year.
Mutale local municipality mayor Tshitereke Matibe made the announcement during a public participation meeting in Makuya-Domboni village, outside Mutale at the weekend.
"The 620 RDP houses will be built this financial year... We urge our ward councillors in our 13 wards to help identify the needy, poor and homeless people so that we can speed up the delivery of houses. We want our poor communities to own and live in decent houses that we will build," said Matibe.
The community members clapped enthusiastically in response to the announcement.
The meeting also included officials from Home Affairs, the South African Social Security Agency, Government Communication and Information System and the Vhembe district municipality as well as the regional Education Department.
Local companies were encouraged to register on the municipality's database.
Vhembe district mayor Lucas Manyuha announced that the district would spend R373 million on water and sanitation projects this financial year.
"We are a water services authority district municipality and we want to speedily deliver...water and sanitation services," said Manyuha.
The mayor added that the municipality will refurbish the Makuya Thusong Services Centre in Mutale and appoint cleaners to maintain it.
Regional Education Department representative Mukondeleli Makhari advised parents whose children walk more than 5km to school to inform the department.
"This will help them benefit from the department's scholar transport system," said Makhari.
Community member Calvin Likhithwa told the delegates that water shortages were a serious problem in rural villages.
"We are forced to share water with animals," said Likhithwa.
