Premier Mabuza sways Balfour citizens not to move to Gauteng
24 November 2013
Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza has successfully managed to sway the citizens of Dipaliseng Municipality located in the town of Balfour from demanding to be moved to Gauteng province.
Recently Balfour citizens marched and submitted a letter to the president when he recently visited the area to officially re-open a refurbished local power station, where they demanded from him to be moved to Gauteng province because they did not receive better services in Mpumalanga.
Speaking yesterday [Saturday, 23 November 2013] at Sinethemba township in Balfour, where he handed over three sponsored houses to the needy families, Premier Mabuza asked the people to work together with the provincial government in solving the problems instead of opting to go to Gauteng.
He said the provincial government together with the municipality was working hard in delivering the services and conceded that in some areas service delivery had not happened as expected.
He humorously told Balfour citizens they wanted to move because they “hate” him since the Gauteng Province was also governed by the ruling party.
He humorously told Balfour citizens they wanted to move because they “hate” him since the Gauteng Province was also governed by the ruling party.
“We are your servants deployed by the ANC to lead you. We may have made mistakes while doing our work, but in order to continue with our mandate we must work together. We are in in a mission and the journey is indeed long. Some people get tired along the way as they complain about certain things while others go to an extent of giving up.
“We must remain united as there cannot be a fruitful struggle without unity. As a provincial government, we will move a bit faster and fix what needs to be fixed. Whether there are storms or not, we must remain united and remember that step-by-step we will get there where we want to be as people of this country,” said Mabuza.
The people at a marquee unanimously shouted back to Mabuza saying they would no longer demand to be moved but would discourage others from demanding to be demarcated to Gauteng.
Dipaliseng Municipality is in the Gert Sibande District, south west of Mpumalanga and has a population of more than 40 000 with six wards.
Speaking about the sponsored houses, Mabuza appreciated the sponsors for partnering with government in changing the lives of other people for the better.
Receiving the keys for her new house a 72 year-old gogo Sonto Thwala who had been staying in a shack for the rest of her life, said she never thought she would own a house in a life.
Issued by Zibonele Mncwango
Spokesperson: Mpumalanga Premier
Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Office of the Premier
Tel: (013) 766 2453
Mobile: 079 4910163
E-mail: zmncwango@mpg.gov.za
