THOHOYANDOU - All political parties gave thumbs up to the Vhembe District Municipality's budget speech, presented by Executive Mayor Samuel Moeti at the Old Parliament buildings last Friday evening.

In his address, Moeti said people in the district were facing challenges that relate to the socio-economic conditions and huge backlogs that need to be addressed. The challenges are the reality of the poverty rate, which is very high, and the need to address the infrastructure backlog. He said 74% of the budget estimates of the 2001/2002 financial year is focused towards capital expenditure because of that demand.

"The district has 14.6% of households without formal income while its per capita income is estimated at R2 734 per annum, which is about R227,83 per month. Forty eight percent of our population is unemployed and 8 931kms of our roads need upgrading or tarring. We still have communities without access to basic services such as water, electricity and health services, while the illiteracy level is high," said Moeti.

Moeti said the district has, in the absence of own resources, entered into a Project Implementation Agreement with the Department of Public Works where 94 classrooms, six school ablution blocks, three staff rooms, one library, one laboratory and two access roads covering 10,2 km, at a cost of R8 408 179,37 were provided. At least 594 jobs were created there.

Access bridges at Milaboni and Tshituni-Pfumbada are still progressing and the latter project is expected to be completed during the 2002/2003 financial year.

Moeti said that although the issue of water sanitation falls under the department of Water Affairs and Forestry, he said the municipality has made efforts to support the department's attempts to deal with the backlog. He added that the district municipality has managed to support the local municipality's efforts to utilize the consolidated municipal infrastructure program without project implementation status.

He also added that the municipality would focus on the development of the youth, women and people with disabilities, as they are still marginalized. In the 2001/2002 financial year, Moeti said the municipality made efforts to ensure that these sectors, which were previously disadvantaged, became targets groups of capital projects implementation. As such, 300 youth, 330 and 24 people with disabilities were employed.

Sixty people received skills training in bricklaying, plastering, painting, bookkeeping, carpentry and electrical works. However, Moeti said the greatest challenge facing his municipality in terms of social development efforts was to create sustainable jobs within the district in the 2002/2003 financial year.

Moeti said he was also happy that 18 local based companies had benefited from their capital project implementation strategy. He said the district was setting up self-sufficient organizations like Integrated Development Planning, Institutional Structures and Control and Income Generation, which had collected R3,4 million in the last financial year.

He also said the budget estimates for 2002/2003 expenditure estimates total R84 808 526, which is broken down into operational expenditure, capital expenditure and continuous projects.

About R10 717 436 will be used on general expenditure, which forms 12% of the expenditure estimates. An amount of R1 860 700 will also be used in repairs and maintenance expenditure, which forms 2% of the total expenditure estimates, while R10 062 100 will go into capital outlay.

The Integrated Development Plan will get the amount of R6 355 900, which is set aside for building new fire station for Mutale Municipality. The Capital Development Fund has been given a budget of R1 000 000, forming 1% of the total expenditure estimates.

Continuous projects like IDP will get R38 954 358, Infrastructure Development R35 908 913, which also covers the upgrading of district roads. Consolidated municipal infrastructure program projects have been allocated R13 036, 439.

Local economic development has been given an amount of R4,4 million, social development R2,4 million, which covers crime prevention and rehabilitation and youth development, the aged, gender, poverty alleviation, HIV/Aids and land-use mapping, while district functions were given R820, 000, forming 1% of total expenditure estimates.

The African Christian Democratic Party general secretary in the province, Mr Mmbosobeni Mankhili, said "I cannot just stand up and oppose everything because of being called the opposition". Mankhili expressed his appreciation to the executive mayor for the strength God gave him to have the spirit of compassion for the needs of the poorest of the poor in the district through projects which he said he believed and shared equally with all God 's children.

Mr Tshifhiwa Makhale from the Daba Lo Rivhuwa Patriotic Party and Takalani Makananise of the Democratic Alliance also gave the proposed budget speech their blessings, which led it to be approved for 2002/2003.