MAKHADO – With only one week left before Christmas and with happiness mounting, the mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr Sarel Nkuzana, said: “It is time to recharge our batteries after a year of hard work and sacrifices.”

He added: “The year 2004 marked 10 years of democracy, freedom and the liberation of our people. Between 1994 and 2004, a lot has been done in terms of service delivery within this municipality. This success was only made possible by the active involvement of our communities in matters of governance. It must be indicated that much more is still to be done. The year 2004 has also given us an opportunity to strengthen and consolidate our social contract with our people. It is our intention to further strengthen this contract in the coming year, with a view to ensuring that all our people finally enjoy a better life for all. This year brought us challenges and oppor-tunities for the residents of this municipality. We want to say good luck to those who were able to utilise their opportunities successfully while, at the same time, we want to encourage those who were not able to achieve their objectives. As we go into the festive season, we wish all our communities all the best. On behalf of this municipality, we want to encourage our communities to utilise these holidays in socialising with their spouse, friends and relatives. As we approach 2005, we want to call upon our people to continue participating in all municipal activities as usual because we cannot succeed without them. In conclusion, it is our humble plea that motorists must drive safely as we cannot afford to lose one life on our roads as has been lost already. We wish everyone all the best.”