By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has described his Presidential Imbizo in the North West province as a success after holding a fruitful session with community members.
Ramaphosa was in North West as part of his promise he made during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) that he would organise presidential imbizos in all different provinces to gauge the needs of local residents.
North West was the first to be visited by Ramaphosa and his ministers. While welcoming his visit, residents from all parts of the provinces expressed their dissatisfaction with their different municipalities and district municipalities.
The Mayor of Mahikeng Local Municipality, Tshepiso Mphehlo, told the president that Mahikeng was the capital city of the North West, but the living conditions and status of roads in the town were appalling.
“Our potholes are just too much Mr president. Our streets are dark in the evening, our water is dirty and at times we have many interruptions in our water supply,” Mphehlo said, to loud applause from the crowds that gathered.
He said the municipality was committed to tackling these challenges, but asked for national government to lend a helping hand to local leaders.
“I’m glad that you’re starting this Imbizo in Mahikeng so that when we have these platforms, where we can have an opportunity to say ‘we have achieved this’, so that our people can know that we are really committed to changing their lives,” he said.
Other residents raised concerns over the poor state of infrastructure at public schools, the living conditions of military veterans and challenges faced in the province’s tourism and agricultural sectors.
In his bid to address the concern of the community, Ramaphosa called his individual ministers to deal with all the issues raised in their respective portfolios.
The President was flanked by a number of his Cabinet Ministers, including Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, Minister of Tourism Lindiwe Sisulu, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu and Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe, among others.
Ramaphosa said the presidential Imbizo would also be held in other provinces.
He said the platform was important for government to interact with communities on their lived experiences and to find solutions to improve communities’ socio-economic conditions.
“The North West has been chosen as the first province to test drive this Imbizo process, and it is very very successful,” he said.
“I am very pleased that most of the replies that were given here are a clear demonstration that we are now becoming more and more integrated and we are going to address the challenges that our people have faced.”
The President told the community members that government will focus more on service delivery and the Ministers would return to the area with a number of programmes focusing on what needs to be done.
Ramaphosa committed to tackling the challenges raised by residents.
“Now this is the way we are now going to move forward as government in an integrated way and a cooperative way doing things together so that they can improve the lives of our people but most importantly so that the can create jobs,” he said.
“There are key issues that have been raised which I want our ministers to give some insight into because we are here under the umbrella of the District Development Model.
Meanwhile Ramaphosa has received his Pfizer booster shot, almost 13 months after getting his jab at Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town.
“I just want her to jab me, is it painful?” Ramaphosa asked the nurse on Saturday. He got his booster shot after concluding the inaugural Presidential Imbizo at the Mmabatho stadium in Mahikeng, North West.
After leaving the main marquee, Ramaphosa walked to a small health service centre stationed in the vicinity. The nurse asked him how he was feeling and informed him about taking a painkiller should he have symptoms after the injection.
Just took my booster shot. I feel much more protected now and I encourage everyone to do it. It’s fast and simple and it’s the only way we can endure that we are protect ourselves fully against COVID-19 #PresidentialImbizo pic.twitter.com/xzeKyKUveK
— Cyril Ramaphosa ?? (@CyrilRamaphosa) March 12, 2022
Before he knew it, the nurse said, “I am done, sir.”
Ramaphosa quipped, “That quick? So why doesn’t everybody do it? I have got my booster now.”
Earlier in his concluding remarks during the imbizo, Ramaphosa encouraged South Africans to continue getting vaccinated as “we are not out of the woods yet.”