On a tour of unemployment plagued Mzimkhulu Township, Zuma unveiled the Siyahlola Presidential Monitoring Programme by insisting on seeing for himself progress that has been made in the area since the villagers plight was raised in the National Assembly during the State of the Nation earlier last year.
It all started when a resident Bongokuhle Miya wrote on the Presidency Facebook page that his hometown was in a poor condition citing dilapidated roads and sewerage. But it was a joyful day for Miya and many locals of Mzimkhulu as Zuma paid a visit to several projects that were put in place following interventions from the municipality and other government departments.
On Tuesday, Zuma heaped praise on Miya thanking him for "taking the time to write to the President and tell him things are not easy in Mzimkhulu".
Accompanied by several cabinet ministers and provincial officials, Zuma visited a 2.5 million litres water reservoir built on a hill and overseeing the entire town of Mzimkhulu, as well as a Sewer Treatment Plant that has been constructed to deal with the sewer spillage. He was told that the reservoir would help alleviate the continuous water shortages in an area home to one of the biggest municipalities in the province.
Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa told SAnews that her department would be looking at the possibility of rolling out similar initiatives to other poverty-stricken and water scarce areas across the country. The President's convoy also made its way to a local shopping complex where he greeted residents before telling them that government was bringing services to them.
Returning to town, Zuma wound up his tour by spending almost three hours of his time listening to the complaints of many outraged and heartbroken residents who told him that.
He urged the more than 5000 strong crowd who gathered at a local sports field that to be patient but said encouraged them "not to be afraid to raise issues affecting them". "We are not scared of criticism. If there are things that you don't understand, you must ask, it's your democratic right."
Zuma said the problem of poverty and unemployment was detrimental to South Africa's economic growth and development.
He encouraged residents to engage local authorities and the Presidential hotline about their complaints rather than embark on disrupting service delivery protests.
"We are here to monitor whether the things that are supposed to be done are indeed getting done. We need to know the things that we see on paper actually do take place so when you have complaints I encourage you to raise them, we have created many platforms for you."
Earlier a resident asked whether the President was aware that there were people who still live without electricity.
Another raised concerns about alleged corrupt activities and maladministration in the local municipality while more complained about lack of access to basic houses, youth unemployment and access to better schools.
The Presidency wants to roll out the Siyahlola programme to the rest of the country and according to Minister for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane, it will be linked to other initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty. Among these, the Comprehensive Rural Development and Land Reform, launched in 2009, has been at the coalface of government's on-going bid to address poverty and unemployment in rural areas.
Zuma said through Siyahlola, government would be able to further support it's monitoring and evaluation exercise which he said was central to government's service delivery mandate.
"The challenge of government has always been in relying on reports. We want to change that. The government gives out budgets every year but in most cases the money is not spent. Following our intervention here, we thought we should come and see for ourselves".
While he was aware that government services can't be "perfect" all the time, and there were places that still lagged behind, it could no longer be accepted that millions still could not access basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation. "A caring government has got to listen," he said.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize spent more than R1 million through the municipal infrastructure grant to build roads in Mzimhkulu and surrounding areas.
"We used that money to respond to the problem of potholes which was very rife here. We have also put funds aside to address the issue of sewage and all these programmes are aimed at addressing your challenges that you have raised to the President," Mkhize said.
