One hundred and seven residents of the Govha and Thondo areas of Tsianda village were honoured during the certificate award ceremony for leadership in social development that was held at the local tribal office on Sunday.

All the recipients of the certificates had served in the social development committee, either as members or on the advisory council for the committee, between 1994 and this year.

During the ceremony, the local ward councillor, Mr Albert Matodzi, indicated that residents of Tsianda village are torch bearers in as far as social development activities are concerned. He appealed to the residents of other villages within his jurisdiction to follow suit.

Matodzi praised the founder of the local development club, Mrs Dorah Rasimphi. A representative from Levubu Police Station, Capt TG Muthurwana, told the gathering that statistics show that the rate of crime has decreased dramatically at Tsianda village during the past year. She as-sociated the decline with the good relationship between the police and the residents of Tsianda. Muthurwana appealed to the residents to refrain from harbouring illegal immigrants and criminals, saying that is against the law.

The local traditional leader, Chief WM Netsianda, told the recipients of the certificates to continue working even harder for the benefit of the community. “The certificates that you have received today should inject a spirit of commitment and dedication into you all,” he said. Netsianda concluded by promising to organise a big party in honour of the recipients of the certificates in November this year.

Some of the people who received certificates during the ceremony include Bishop TM Nemakhavhani and Pastor TP Ramahala. Capt Muthurwana handed over a certificate to Chief Netsianda in honour of his commendable leadership.