During a recent Operation Sukuma Sakhe visit to the uMzinyathi District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for agriculture and rural development, Thembeni KaMadlopha-Mthethwa, met with provincial, district, and municipal stakeholders in Hlazakazi, Nquthu. The visit aimed to identify key local challenges hampering service delivery and strengthen collaboration across government levels.
KaMadlopha-Mthethwa said the engagements formed part of the government’s strategic platforms created to foster direct integration between government leadership and communities, which enables locals to raise concerns and receive progress reports on service delivery issues, including inspections of community projects.
“The primary objective is to listen to the community’s concerns and to have solutions to address the challenges plaguing the area. It’s disappointing to hear that only 23 households participate in home gardens because each department is producing about 10 million seeds and seedlings,” she said.
Prioritising water access
The MEC emphasised the importance of empowering people to achieve development, rather than merely ticking boxes. During the briefing, attendees discussed various social ills affecting the community, including high teenage pregnancy rates and crime rates, particularly killings and stock theft.
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KaMadlopha-Mthethwa instructed relevant authorities to expedite service delivery, highlighting the need for her department to reassess the area’s challenges and provide interventions. This includes the repair of dip tanks, mobilising people to establish home gardens, and addressing the limited uptake of agricultural programmes, including constructing a dip tank after a needs assessment.
She said water is a top priority for the province. “At Nkunyana Combined School, authorities urged government officials to ensure the eradication of pit toilets being used at the school due to a lack of running water, as that not only helps the school have water, but [also] the entire community and farmers.
“As an intervention, we can only do so much as Operation Sukuma Sakhe, but we have directed the national department of water and sanitation and uMzinyathi District Municipality, as responsible departments with competency, to prioritise this area,” she said.
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