The predominantly rural but productive Mutale Municipality has employed five key officials who include an engineer, chief financial officer, planner, IDP manager and an accountant, in a bid to accelerate service delivery to its people.

This was revealed by Mayor Lucas Manyuha when he tabled the municipality’s R45, 297, 795.73 budget at the Mutale Town Hall on Saturday afternoon.

Manyuha said several villages will benefit from the municipality’s electrification projects in the new financial year. "We will electrify 12 villages in cooperation with Eskom, Exxaro, Makhado and the Vhembe District Municipality to a total of 2 214 units. The villages include Tshenzhelani, Lwathudwa, Maholoni, Tshitandani, Gundani, Mukovhawabale, Mangwele, Bashasha, Gombani, Madzwororo, Folovhodwe and Mukomawabani. The implementation of these projects will enable us to increase the number of indigents who are currently benefiting from 1 900 to an estimated number of 2 500."

Manyuha added that Mutale Municipality is a water scarce area but that does not impact them in their zeal to bring water to the people. "In the villages like Goma, Tshamutora and Mutshuludi, we didn’t find any underground water, but through MIG funding we will be able to connect these villages with piped water from nearby villages. We are confident that, through this process, we will meet the national target on water. Different water projects will be implemented to the value of R47 000 000, including the construction of a reservoir and pipeline at Madatshitshi, Tshamulungwe, Mafhohoni and Goma, to name but a few. We will also build 800 units of sanitation in all wards. This will include Tshandama and Masisi RDP houses. The municipality is committed to ensuring that all villages and economic development centers are accessible. We will continue with the re-gravelling of access roads to villages and the construction of the most talked about road to Khunguni, which was not implemented due to budget underestimation. We will also construct two more sports fields at Tshixwadza and Tshilamba to ensure that communities and youths are able to participate in different sporting codes."

Manyuha thanked the communities for playing a meaningful role in the development of the municipality. "We have learned many lessons from our continuous interaction with our people through Imbizos, mayoral visits to traditional leaders and IDP public participation programmes. During theses community outreach programmes, our people were accorded an opportunity to participate in the running of their municipality by expressing their views on the programmes and activities of the municipality. Many issues, both positive and negative, were raised during our interaction with the people and we appreciate their view and aspirations."