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On the 24th of February 2023, the Premier of Mpumalanga Province Mrs. Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane delivered the Mpumalanga State of the Province Address (SOPA) at the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature in Mbombela.

Popularly known as the “Place of the Rising Sun”, Mpumalanga Premier Mtsweni-Tsipane reflected on the six (6) focus areas for the province which are listed as follows:

Job creation and youth empowerment initiatives.

Infrastructure development. 

Local government support and advancement of service delivery measures.

Improvement of Health and Educational facilities.

Strengthening of accountable state.

Just transition.

Amongst these focus areas, the Premier spoke about the basic service delivery and local government challenges faced by municipalities within the province. “Refuse removal remains a challenge for most of our municipalities”, said the Premier, whilst also providing a solution that will assist in addressing this challenge – ‘The Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) framework has been revised to allow Municipalities to procure solid waste removal trucks through the MIG allocation to improve access to refuse removal’. 

Some of the ‘wins’ that have been achieved within the sphere of local government and that were reflected on by the Premier includes:

Progress made in addressing water challenges in Thembisile Hani and Dr JS Moroka Local Municipalities through the Loskop dam water project. The project has since been divided into five (5) work packages – reservoirs, bulk pipelines, and water treatment plants.

Communities around Lothair, Chrissiesmeer, Warbuton, and Balfour will get consistent and reliable bulk water supply through the regional bulk water infrastructure project in Gert Sibande District.

A Provincial Water Master Plan has been developed and will be adopted as a Blueprint to guide water infrastructure development in the province. This will assist many of the bulk water infrastructure challenges that are experienced by municipalities. 

The Department of Water and Sanitation has commenced with the feasibility and environmental impact assessment studies for the Mountain View Regional Dam, which will augment water supply within the Ehlanzeni District. This project is estimated to be completed by 2027/2028.

The Public Private Growth Initiative (PPGI) Operational Framework/Model has been approved, to respond to the challenge of unfunded catalytic projects and programmes in the District Development Model (DDM) One Plans. Ehlanzeni District will be piloted, with the programme also being rolled out to Nkangala and Gert Sibande Districts to assist with mobilizing investors/partners on unfunded programmes. 

The Premier also indicated that all these programmes will be implemented through the District Development Model (DDM) approach.

As part of her concluding remarks, Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane indicated that “As a province we are now standing at a crossroad, where we can either find pathways to inclusive growth and shared prosperity, where no one is left behind of as a nation we collectively descend further into the abyss of extreme poverty, unparalleled inequality and social instability”. 

SALGA as an association that represents the interests of municipalities was also part of the SOPA and continues to appreciate the good working relations that the organisation has with the provincial government as well as the Mpumalanga Legislature. In 2014 SALGA and the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature signed a Memorandum of Understanding which aimed to strengthen relations and formalise a working partnership. The MoU is currently being reviewed so that the current needs of the local government sphere can incorporated and included. 

Full Statement Attached

Issued by The South African Local Government Association (SALGA)