Mayor Mngomezulu, catalyst of service delivery hope

Gert Sibande District Municipality’s (GSDM) Executive Mayor, Cllr Walter Mngomezulu, has committed to elevate all the service delivery concerns by KwaDela (formerly Davel) residents to the GSDM District Development Model Forum for a speedy intervention. Cllr Mngomezulu made the commitment during the GSDM Mayoral Imbizo at the KwaDela sports grounds on Friday, 5 August 2022. He was responding to a myriad of basic service delivery challenges that the community raised during the Imbizo, which Councillor Mngomezulu led with the Executive Mayor of Msukaligwa Local Municipality, Councillor Mapulane Nkosi, joined by Executive Mayors from Lekwa, Chief Albert Luthuli, and Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme municipalities.

The challenges raised by the residents included raw sewer spillages, lack of proper roads, lack of provision of services residential stands and poor electrical infrastructure. “I want to assure all of you, the residents of KwaDela and surrounding areas, that this Imbizo is not just a ticking of the box exercise, but that all the challenges you have raised will be addressed through the District Development Model,” said Cllr Mngomezulu to a round of applause from the packed sports grounds. He also commended the residents of KwaDela for coming out in large numbers and raising their issues with their elected leaders during the Imbizo.

The programme of the day started with the official hand over the refurbished KwaDela water treatment plant, which was funded by the Department of Water and Sanitation, with GSDM as the implementing agent. Cllr Mngomezulu and delegation also visited the KwaDela Combined School, where they attended the prize giving ceremony and donated dignity packs to the pupils. A JoJo water tank was also donated to the KwaDela drop-in-centre before conducting a service delivery assessment of the area, and a door-to-door campaign to listen to the residents’ challenges with regards to service delivery in the area. Councillor Mngomezulu also led a donation of food parcels to seventy (70) impoverished families during the Imbizo, which he said this was only a temporary intervention.

“We are actually working on moving away from these acts of donating food parcels, but to donating gardening tools and seedlings so to encourage our communities to start communal fruit and vegetable gardens for personal or business benefit,” concluded Cllr Mngomezulu.