Tomorrow, the first citizen of our province, Stan Chupu Mathabatha, will take to the podium for his final address on the state of the Province to the people of Limpopo.
As his term comes to an end, we expect Mathabatha to account for the accelerated looting of provincial resources under his watchful eye and to bring a sense of finality to the many incomplete projects and lofty promises he has made over his two terms.
The Provincial Socio-Economic Recovery plan as a guide to economic development and growth did not take off the ground as expected: our province is still has one of the highest headcounts of adult poverty, high levels of youth unemployment and unprecedented levels of inequality, while several departments returned millions of rands back to the treasury without making the envisaged impact on the economy.
It will never be forgotten that under your leadership, while ordinary people were gripped by unrelenting poverty, two Mayors of Vhembe District Municipality, Florence Radzilana, and Lepelle Nkumpi Municipality, Nakedi Sibanda, both unlawfully invested a combined total of R450 million in the now defunct VBS Bank which robbed thousands of innocent pensioners of their lives’ savings. For this heinous act, you Mr Premier, rewarded them with cushy seats in your cabinet at the Limpopo Executive Council.
It is not too late to redeem your legacy. We hope in your address tomorrow, we will see you removing these criminal elements in your cabinet as well as incompetent MECs whose departments failed to use funds to better the lives of the people of this province.
Mr Premier, take the province into confidence and announce the municipality’s strategic direction in the Development of energy generating plans which you mentioned in 2023 which have still not taken off. Our suspicion is you were aware that there was capacity deficiency to carry this out yet, you went ahead and made an announcement to that effect, painting a picture of implementation of key projects when in-fact there was no political will to see this through.
Fetakgomo/Tubatse is a highly congested mining area contributing immensely to the provincial GDP, which has applied for its designation as Special Economic Zone (SEZ). We expect an announcement to that effect as the approval will bring economic change to the region and create many job opportunities. We further expect an announcement of plans to place processing plants closer to the mines instead of exportation of raw minerals for processing outside of Limpopo.
In my recent visits to the industrial areas, particularly in Seshego, I witnessed first-hand that the pledged support for SMMEs did not take place as previously promised. We still have collapsed industrial areas and abandoned firms around the province. We expect an announcement of tangible plans to revive these collapsed industrial areas and progress on the 6000 jobs promised as a result of this investment.
What are you going to do about the incompetence and corruption in municipalities that have failed to provide services to the long-suffering people of the Limpopo Province? I pose this question in lieu of the Polokwane Municipality report which points to an astronomical R1,6b in wasteful expenditure by the municipality yet when one looks around we are confronted by huge practical evidence of service delivery failure and unfinished multi-million rands projects in the municipality.
I will keenly await an update on the following projects, which are at the heart of this municipality, not more than 10kms from where you will be delivering your address:
– The State of the Art Seshego Water Project which lies incomplete while local businesses and residents suffer the inconvenience of unreliable water supply
– The upgrade of the bridge on Nelson Mandela Drive which inconveniences hundreds of motorists commuting to and fro Seshego and Polokwane town for their livelihoods
– The upgrade and re-construction of the roads at Seshego Circle Centre which will spare the thousands of residents from driving on congested dirt roads.
In addition to this, is the Giyani Water Project which hangs over the head of this administration after several years of failure to supply the 55 villages of Giyani with water? When will the people of Giyani be relived of this human rights violation? When will they finally get to taste the fruits of this R4.5 billion Bulk Water Project?
In December of 2022 you joined president Ramaphosa in a community meeting in Giyani to announce that their taps will have water running through them. That did not happen. The deadline was pushed to March 2023 the later pushed to August 2023 and still nothing has happened to date. The empty promises will hopefully come to an end post the Mathabatha era. The people of Giyani have extended enough grace to this government.
With due respect, Mr Premier, there is seemingly no credibility towards the promises you made since the previous SOPA. The legacy that you are leaving is only that of lip service and no implementation, no carry through and no accountability. It is no surprise that your cabinet, which underperforms in a lot of respects, has been left to fail the people of Limpopo without any real consequences.
Mathabatha’s Final State of the Province Address: Legacy of Unfinished Projects and Legalised Corruption
Tomorrow, the first citizen of our province, Stan Chupu Mathabatha, will take to the podium for his final address on the state of the Province to the people of Limpopo.
As his term comes to an end, we expect Mathabatha to account for the accelerated looting of provincial resources under his watchful eye and to bring a sense of finality to the many incomplete projects and lofty promises he has made over his two terms.
The Provincial Socio-Economic Recovery plan as a guide to economic development and growth did not take off the ground as expected: our province is still has one of the highest headcounts of adult poverty, high levels of youth unemployment and unprecedented levels of inequality, while several departments returned millions of rands back to the treasury without making the envisaged impact on the economy.
It will never be forgotten that under your leadership, while ordinary people were gripped by unrelenting poverty, two Mayors of Vhembe District Municipality, Florence Radzilana, and Lepelle Nkumpi Municipality, Nakedi Sibanda, both unlawfully invested a combined total of R450 million in the now defunct VBS Bank which robbed thousands of innocent pensioners of their lives’ savings. For this heinous act, you Mr Premier, rewarded them with cushy seats in your cabinet at the Limpopo Executive Council.
It is not too late to redeem your legacy. We hope in your address tomorrow, we will see you removing these criminal elements in your cabinet as well as incompetent MECs whose departments failed to use funds to better the lives of the people of this province.
Mr Premier, take the province into confidence and announce the municipality’s strategic direction in the Development of energy generating plans which you mentioned in 2023 which have still not taken off. Our suspicion is you were aware that there was capacity deficiency to carry this out yet, you went ahead and made an announcement to that effect, painting a picture of implementation of key projects when in-fact there was no political will to see this through.
Fetakgomo/Tubatse is a highly congested mining area contributing immensely to the provincial GDP, which has applied for its designation as Special Economic Zone (SEZ). We expect an announcement to that effect as the approval will bring economic change to the region and create many job opportunities. We further expect an announcement of plans to place processing plants closer to the mines instead of exportation of raw minerals for processing outside of Limpopo.
In my recent visits to the industrial areas, particularly in Seshego, I witnessed first-hand that the pledged support for SMMEs did not take place as previously promised. We still have collapsed industrial areas and abandoned firms around the province. We expect an announcement of tangible plans to revive these collapsed industrial areas and progress on the 6000 jobs promised as a result of this investment.
What are you going to do about the incompetence and corruption in municipalities that have failed to provide services to the long-suffering people of the Limpopo Province? I pose this question in lieu of the Polokwane Municipality report which points to an astronomical R1,6b in wasteful expenditure by the municipality yet when one looks around we are confronted by huge practical evidence of service delivery failure and unfinished multi-million rands projects in the municipality.
I will keenly await an update on the following projects, which are at the heart of this municipality, not more than 10kms from where you will be delivering your address:
– The State of the Art Seshego Water Project which lies incomplete while local businesses and residents suffer the inconvenience of unreliable water supply
– The upgrade of the bridge on Nelson Mandela Drive which inconveniences hundreds of motorists commuting to and fro Seshego and Polokwane town for their livelihoods
– The upgrade and re-construction of the roads at Seshego Circle Centre which will spare the thousands of residents from driving on congested dirt roads.
In addition to this, is the Giyani Water Project which hangs over the head of this administration after several years of failure to supply the 55 villages of Giyani with water? When will the people of Giyani be relived of this human rights violation? When will they finally get to taste the fruits of this R4.5 billion Bulk Water Project?
In December of 2022 you joined president Ramaphosa in a community meeting in Giyani to announce that their taps will have water running through them. That did not happen. The deadline was pushed to March 2023 the later pushed to August 2023 and still nothing has happened to date. The empty promises will hopefully come to an end post the Mathabatha era. The people of Giyani have extended enough grace to this government.
With due respect, Mr Premier, there is seemingly no credibility towards the promises you made since the previous SOPA. The legacy that you are leaving is only that of lip service and no implementation, no carry through and no accountability. It is no surprise that your cabinet, which underperforms in a lot of respects, has been left to fail the people of Limpopo without any real consequences.