“In the face of hunger, we believe there can be food for all. In the face of thirst, we believe there can be water for all. In the face of homelessness, we believe there can be houses for our people and in the face of darkness we believe there can be electricity for everyone.”

This was said by the MEC for the Department of Local Government and Housing in Limpopo, Mr Soviet Lekganyane, during the official switching on of electricity at Bennde Mutale village last Tuesday. The village is situated in a very poor region, serviced by the Mutale Municipality.

“We should continue to face the challenges of our age together, as one people, as South Africans. Yes, we need to roll up our sleeves and build a working consensus to tackle the problems of service delivery anywhere in this province. It is time to turn the page, right here and right now. It is time to confront underdevelopment with everything we have got,” said the MEC.

The village´s 173 households benefited from the electrification project. What is said to have inspired the villagers is that the project was completed in a space of only four months. It started on October 5 last year and was completed on January 23 early this year. The project had a budget of R1 313 865 and the total final expenditure amounted to R1 303 612.

It was during this event that the Department of Local Government identified six beneficiaries who would receive free basic electricity tokens.

One of the villagers who expressed her happiness to Mirror, after she had received the electricity, was granny Manganyi Njakanjaka who said that she had lost hope that one day she will have electricity connected to her house. “I am very happy that at last government has realized that there is also a need for us in the poverty-stricken rural areas of Mutale area, like other people in the urban areas, to also see the light in our households. I really appreciate what the government has done for me,” she said.

Njakanjaka was also one of the recipients of the free basic electricity tokens.