MAKHADO - The mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr Sarel Rhulani Nkuzana, said that while some people call his 100-days plan names, it was clear from the onset that some of the commitments he had made might not be achieved, due to time frames and budgetary constraints.

In defending himself from the DA's statement that he had been too ambitious when launching his plan, Nkuzana said that the majority of people regarded the plan as something achievable. During his first weeks in office, the mayor launched the plan, aimed at speeding up service delivery and unity at the municipality, which is always surrounded by controversy regarding fraud, corruption, nepotism and sexual harrasment.

"It is important to stipulate that we have achieved 90% of the objectives in our plan," he claims. He said that ward committee members were trained by Fair Share as far as the capacity building programme is concerned. However, there was no explanation from the mayor as to the fields in which the members had been trained. "In addition," he said, "officials and councilors were also trained about issues pertaining to ward committees. During the period under review, we electrified 90 stands in extension nine, 340 stands at Thenga, 300 at Riverplaats, and 300 at Hanani. We have also commenced with electrification projects at Mudimeli and Tshiendeulu."

The Mayor further said that he had managed to complete housing projects for 2003/2004. "We purchased three more graders, and by June, half the wards will be graded. An application for the rumbling stripes on the Mbokota road was submitted to the dept of Transport and Public Works for approval," he added.

With regard to the Colour Steel Factory, he said the fencing had been completed and the developer had gone back to the People's Republic of China to revise the building plans that do not comply with the requirements of the SABS. "We are in partnership with Mirror and Zoutpansberger, wherein a supplement on HIV/Aids was distributed to communities. The supplement has proved to achieve its objective, as people are able to start speaking openly about the pandemic," he said.