MEC Skhosana officially opens Mashishing Thusong
Service Centre
22 May 2013
The MEC for the Department of Co-operative Governance
and Traditional Affairs, Mr Simon Skhosana officially opened the Mashishing
Thusong Service Centre built by GlencoreXstrata in Mashishing, Thaba Chweu
Local Municipality. The state of the art centre was built at the cost of R8
million as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.
Those who attended the official opening ceremony
included the Executive Mayor, Cllr Michael Ncongwane and Councillors of
Thaba Chweu and Ehlanzeni District Municipality, Traditional Leaders,
GlencoreXstrata representatives, government agencies and community based
organisations, residents of Mashishing and government officials.
The Thusong Service Centre is a one-stop centre that
provides government services and information. Residents can access
information and access a wide range of government services at the centre
without travelling long distances. The centre will house the following
services and offices; Thaba Chweu Municipality (Pay point), Khulangwane
Youth Centre, Library, Cotlands (ECD Projects), Small Enterprise Development
Agency (SEDA), Love Life, SASSA and a gymnasium. The municipality will be
engaging other government departments and agencies to occupy available
offices at the centre to also render services to the community.
Apart from the Centre the company built a wellness
clinic at Lydenburg hospital, four classrooms at Estralita School for the
mentally impaired and a community hall. The MEC and his entourage visited
the projects to witness the contribution of GlencoreXstrata to the community
of Thaba Chweu.
GlencoreXstrata representative, Mr Conrod van der
Westhuizen told the gathering that as a company they value the communities
in which they operate in and they pride themselves with working with
communities. During his address, MEC Skhosana extended gratitude on behalf
of the government for the contribution the company is making to better the
lives of the people in the area. “Government alone cannot be able to address
all the imbalances and the backlogs of the past that still exist in our
communities. We need to work with all stakeholders to create Public Private
Partnerships that will be vehicles for addressing the challenges of poverty,
unemployment and inequality in our communities” said Skhosana.
He also appealed to the community to guard the Thusong
Service Centre and other public properties against vandalism. A number of
community facilities were damaged and torched in the area during service
delivery protests in the area. “We must at all times remember that
governments resources are limited and they need to be spread amongst all
areas, so if you destroy a school or a clinic that has been built,
government cannot come back to rebuild these when there are many areas that
are still waiting for the same service,” said Skhosana. He reminded the
community that this government is elected by the people to serve them and it
is always ready to engage communities when they have concerns. Residents are
urged to always respect the law and rights of other citizens when they
protests.
Simphiwe Kunene
Cell: 0824133931
Issued by the Department of
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs
