Despite the large amount of money owed by consumer debtors, "Musina Municipality is doing its best to provide basic services to its people," said the mayor, Cllr Carol Phiri.

When tabling the municipality's budget last Friday, Phiri said consumer debtors owed the municipality nearly R24 million.   “However, we are embarking on campaigns to educate our people that it is important to pay for services, so that we can use the money for the benefit of our communities in return,” she said. She presented a total budget of R248 758 000 for the 2013/14 financial year.

She also reported back on the projects that the municipality undertook during the past financial year. She said the construction of Malale Sports Centre at a cost of R6,2 million was at an advanced stage. She added that the construction of Madimbo Community Hall at a cost of R4,6 million is also nearing completion. The construction of Thusong Centre in Nancefield extension  8 at a cost of R2 million and a public park in Nancefield extension 1 at a cost of R1,8 million were complete.

Phiri also reported that the municipality had achieved its mandate of filling top management positions during the previous financial year. “In our quest for accelerating service delivery, we can proudly announce that, during this financial year, we also appointed 66 general workers. These are the people who make sure that our community members get the much-needed services within the blink of an eye. When we appointed these people, we made sure that we catered for all groups, including the youth, women and the disabled.”

She said that, together with the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport, Musina Municipality had conceived the Household-Based Routine Maintenance Project. The R16,5 million initiative employed 600 people for a 12-month contract. "We are serious about taking our people out of the bondage of poverty. As a responsible government, we cannot just watch while our people do not have jobs."

She said the burning issue of traffic vehicles for the people of Musina had been resolved. "We promised that we would give our traffic officers additional tools to manage local traffic enforcement and the coordination of street works better. We managed to buy three new vehicles for our traffic officers to execute their duties with ease.”

She acknowledged the role played by De Beers Venetia Mine and Vele Colliery in ploughing back into the communities around Musina through their social labour plans. 

Some of the projects that the municipality will undertake during the coming financial year include the Nancefield extension 5 refurbishment of a sports centre, Nancefield extension 8 construction of a new park, Nancefield extension 8 construction of a market place, Nancefield Extension 7 construction of Thusong Centre, Madimbo construction of a market place, procurement of refuse-removal vehicles, including machinery and equipment, road resurfacing and construction of stormwater drainage.