President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on mining companies under the Sekhukhune District Municipality in Limpopo to work together with government in uplifting young people.
“I want to call on mining companies to work together with us. It is about time that in an area that is concentrated with minerals, we uplift the young people of Limpopo… There should be meaningful skills development, which revolves around mining, engineering, metallurgy, and all other related courses.
“We want the young people to be taught here in Sekhukhune. We must have an education facility [mining academy] right here, as many of you have called for it. I want a mining academy and college here in Sekhukhune. So I am going to make a direct call because it is unacceptable for an area, which has such a bright future with mining, not to have such," President Ramaphosa said.
The President lauded young people in the area for showing an interest in education. He further articulated the need for a mining academy.
President Ramaphosa was speaking on Friday during the 8th Presidential District Development Model (DDM) Imbizo at the Motodi Sports Complex in Ga-Motodi Village under the Sekhukhune District Municipality in Limpopo.
The DDM is an integrated planning model for Cooperative Governance, which seeks to ensure integrated, district-based, service delivery approach aimed at fast-tracking service delivery.
The imbizo follows similar engagements that have taken place in the seven provinces of the North West, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The President interacted with people and listened to their experiences of daily life, their service delivery challenges as well as their initiatives and solutions to improve socio-economic conditions.
The main challenges highlighted by the communities of Sekhukhune District Municipality includes the issue of a District Office location, illegal mining, basic services such as water and electricity, dilapidated roads, high rate of unemployment among the youth and the shortage of clinics.
The communities told the President that one of the pertinent issues is the fact that the Sekhukhune District office is located in the Capricorn District, since 2007, making it difficult to access the services they need.
In response to this, the President said that those in charge are playing ‘politics’ and pulling in different directions, hence the relocation of the district office is still hanging to date.
“From 2007, we have been talking about exactly the same thing, the political leaders here are pulling in different directions and it has paralysed the provision of good services to our people. Let us put the interest of our people first, and put our needs at the back.
“It is unacceptable to me that we have been waiting for a district office since 2007. Today, you are complaining about a simple thing like that. The instruction I am putting out today is that the district office must be built in Sekhukhune without fail,” he said.
The President strongly called on municipalities to do their work and correctly use the money that has been allocated for service delivery.
“We have now realised that for us to go forward and see the money being put to good use, we have to come in and intervene as national government, whether they like it or not - this is going to happen.
“We are now saying we want our municipalities to function and as they function, we want the best of the best to serve us, people with capacity and capability… We must get our municipalities to function better, this is why we say went to professionalise our civil service,” he said.
On the many issues the community raised, the President said government is hard at work.
He told the community that one of the key issues government is looking at is the high rate of unemployment, along with the water challenges.
“One of the key issues we are looking at is unemployment. We want to create jobs and that is why we want the Sekhukhune area to become the mining capital of our country. We want it to attract investors and our local business people must get involved in mining so that they can employ others as well. We must turn the situation around,” he said.
The President lauded the communities for the positive spirit they showed in wanting to see the challenges solved.
He highlighted that government recently launched the Olifants Management Model Programme (OMM) in Limpopo, with an estimated cost of R24 billion, in a bid to address pressing water needs.
“Jobs will be created and water challenges will be solved. Let’s look at a way forward. We want to see young people getting skills and employment. Once the mining academy is built, I want to see many of you getting enrolled,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za
