By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Mandla Ndlovu delivered his maiden State of the Province Address, which tabled a number of projects that he said the Mpumalanga Government have begun.
Ndlovu was elected the premier after his party, the ANC, attained 51% of the votes during the recently held national and provincial elections. He becomes the sixth premier of Mpumalanga, taking over the reigns from Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, who has since been deployed to the National Council of Provinces.
“Our provincial targets for 2030 on average are to increase economic growth by 5%, to decrease the unemployment rate to 5%, to have 2.1 million people working and have no young graduate unemployment, and have zero rise in the poverty rate. A girl child from Pienaar should be able to go to school with no fear and come back home safely,” Ndlovu said.
He said the Mpumalanga Provincial Government has set a target to create a total of 215 692 job opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme over the next five years.
“These include 129 415 (60%) women, 118 631 (55%) youth and 4 313 (2%) people living with disabilities. These opportunities will be created across all sectors of our economy.”
Ndlovu added that the province started with the implementation of solar panel technology at Mmametlhake Hospital and the Mpumalanga Government Complex. Given the number of public buildings that need clean and reliable energy, this initiative will create approximately 1 000 jobs along the entire value chain, which includes manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance, over the next five years.”
Economy
Premier acknowledged the huge infrastructure backlog and shortage in the province. He promised to make Mpumalanga a construction site this financial year by spending billions of rands in infrastructure projects.
He also mentioned completion of the following infrastructure projects like the Mpumalanga Agri-Hubs, the Middelburg Hospital, and the Mkhondo Boarding school.
Ndlovu committed that the provincial government will deal with the increasing cost of living as 71% of the households are food insecure and willing to help 15 000 households with agricultural production for them to self-sustain.
He also promised to open the exclusive Mpumalanga International Fresh Produce Market within the next three months which is expected to boost job creation.
“It is anticipated that 156 sustainable direct jobs will be created at the market floor upon operationalisation and 115 000 sustainable direct jobs will be created at farm level. More job opportunities from market agents, agri-hubs, porters and tenants operating within the market precinct will be created,” Ndlovu said.
Health Care
“We will therefore prioritise the establishment of gynaecological units at Sister Mashiteng Clinic in Steve Tshwete Local Municipality and Oakley Clinic in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality. The Department of Health will appoint six advanced midwives, three for each clinic in order to lower the child mortality rate.”
In his commitment to improve health outcomes, he aims to fast-track the construction and maintenance of healthcare services at several facilities such as the new Middelburg Hospital, as well as Mmametlhake, Mapulaneng, Linah Malatjie Tertiary and Rob Ferreira hospitals.
“To improve our emergency services, we will add 20 specialised ambulances and build three more clinics, namely the Alexandria Clinic in Bushbuckridge, Langkloof Clinic in Thembisile Hani and Lebohang Clinic in Govan Mbeki.”
Crime
In an effort to curb crime and enhance community safety, Ndlovu said the provincial government will deploy 1 200 crime prevention wardens who will assist in boosting safety and security at crime hotspots. An additional 80 vehicles will be provided for traffic officers to ensure road user safety.
Ndlovu also made a pronouncement of supporting the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to deal with the corruption that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.