By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the participation of the community in the construction of the newly constructed Middelburg Hospital in Mpumalanga.
Ramaphosa was conducting a site visit and inspection of the newly constructed hospital.
“I appreciated the way there was thorough consultation with various stakeholders in the area to bring in small and medium enterprises and to bring in communities that participated in one form or another in the construction of the hospital,” he said.
“This is what we should do because, in many ways, it also avoids this very bad practice that has emerged among construction mafias.”
When the community is well-organised and is part of the construction of a facility, everybody feels like they own the facility, and they can benefit from a job point of view and from a supply point of view.”
He was also impressed with the funding model that was used.
“It was funded from the budget but over a five-year period in various phases, not all at once. To do it over a set period is clearly the way to go.”
Ramaphosa said the hospital was well-equipped to serve the needs of its community.
He said: “This is most impressive. It’s modern, state-of-the-art, and it’s going to serve the community of about 330 000 people. This is a development.
“This is how we are developing our country from a social and health point of view, and we’re doing it cost-effectively as well.”
“Those who have been criticising the NHI [we now]… have… an improved facility and improved infrastructure… this is it. We are ready for the NHI at this site. When the NHI Bill is signed [into law], this is going to be one of the exciting sites for NHI implementation,” he said.
The president was speaking ahead of the district development model presidential imbizo held at Emalahleni in Mpumalanga, on Thursday.
Themed ‘Leave No One Behind’, the 12th Presidential Imbizo promotes participatory democracy and inclusive development by allowing community members and stakeholders to voice proposals and express any concerns or dissatisfaction they may have about conditions in the district or province.
The imbizo took place at the Sy Mthimunye Stadium in Emalahleni.
The imbizo is directed at enabling the successful implementation of the ‘One District, One Plan’ District Development Model in which residents, traditional leaders, business formations, organised labour and faith- and community-based organisations work with government across all phases of planning, implementation and evaluation.
The imbizo highlights the successful implementation of the DDM, and the significance of collaboration with key stakeholders including traditional leaders, businesses and civil society.
The DDM Presidential Imbizo forms part of a holistic government service delivery and monitoring programme, using an integrated, district-based approach to address community needs.
It serves as an important platform for transparent and constructive exchanges between communities and government.
Since inception in March 2022, izimbizo have empowered millions of South Africans to directly engage with the President, contributing to policy discussions and acknowledging government efforts to better serve the people.
Nkululeko Skhosana from Malelane said government must urgently attend to their concerns.
“Our lives are miserable without proper services. Water is our main concern. We sometimes go for days without water. In some instances, we are forced to buy water from the shops to survive,” he said.
Skhosana also expressed concern about the high rate of unemployment.
“We send our children to school and when they finish studying, there are no jobs. No one wants to employ them. We are appealing to government to create jobs for our children,” he said.
Upon Ramaphosa’s arrival, uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (MKP) members made their way to the marquee at the Sy Mthimunye Stadium in Ackerville in a bid to interrupt the imbizo.
However, as a counter to the MKP chants, a woman could be heard singing on the loud speaker, Ramaphosa siyak’thanda, which loosely translates to we love you Ramaphosa.
This incidents comes in the week that the MKP leader Visvin Reddy threatened violence if the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) did not make it to the ballot.
Ramaphosa has since addressed and engaged with the people of Mpumalanga at the Imbizo.
He was accompanied by Cabinet Ministers, who were assisting in responding to concerns raised by community members.
Ramaphosa has assured that although the lives of South Africans have become better over the past 30 years of democracy, government will continue to work to make further improvements.
“The lives of our people are better. But our work is not done. We are going to continue in order to make sure that the lives of our people get even better in all ways. Whether it be resolving unemployment challenges, we will raise employment. If it is the challenge of load shedding, we will end it.
“All of the challenges that we are facing in South Africa, this government is determined to resolve [them],” he said.
The DDM Presidential Imbizo forms part of a holistic government service delivery and monitoring programme, using an integrated, district-based approach to address community needs.