If the empowerment and information-sharing sessions between the Mashau and Mashamba traditional authorities and Chief Livhuwani Matsila are anything to go by, the lot of the poor residents in these areas will soon improve as a result of sustainable jobs.

Matsila, who heads the Matsila Development Trust and has initiated many projects benefiting hundreds in his community, has a wealth of experience in rural development. His unique model of rural development has become a beacon of hope for most rural communities and has attracted attention from all corners of the country. To see other areas develop, the visionary chief is now sharing his experiences with fellow traditional leaders and is visiting different areas in Vhembe.

The meetings are a follow-up to workshops held recently at Matsila.

As a first stop, Matsila visited the Kutama traditional authority last week, where he met the leadership and different stakeholders. On Monday, he took the campaign to Mashau and Mashamba, where he had fruitful engagements with the communities.

The meeting came up with proposals on how to change the communities from being begging communities to productive communities through sustainable projects. The focus was on agriculture, tourism, arts and crafts and the environment as means to ease unemployment and poverty in villages.

"As traditional leaders, we should always be seeking ways to empower our communities and create employment opportunities for them. I can confidently say that we are doing well in this regard, but some of our colleagues are lagging."

The local senior traditional leader at Mashau, Thovhele Ronald Mashau, was full of praises for the good deeds Matsila is doing. "As leaders, we draw a lot of inspiration from what Matsila is doing for his community."

He added that, with the wealth of information and experience Matsila had in development, they had learnt a lot “and we are not going to waste any more time, but start implementing what we have discussed.”

Mashau further indicated that a follow-up meeting has been planned.