Residents of Mulima and adjacent areas received a long-awaited gift on Friday, as the Department of Public Works has injected R5.5 milion to construct a community centre in the village.

The centre will house several government departments, including Home Affairs, the South African Social Security Agency and the Mulima Traditional Council offices. Most of the people in the area were forced to travel to Louis Trichardt in order to apply for their children´s birth certificates and identity documents.

Members of the community expressed their happiness when the MEC for Public Works, Ms Thabitha Mohlala, performed the sod-turning ceremony to kickstart the construction of the project officially .

"We are overjoyed about the fact that our problem of traveling long distances to access government services will no longer be necessary. Our children where unable to get birth certificates on time, because of these problems, and we are happy that the government has decided to address this problem," said a mother of three, Ms Ndivhudza Masindi. She added that it was difficult for unemployed women to access the South African Social Security Agency´s services.

While performing the sod-turning ceremony, MEC Mohlala said that the reconfiguration of the department of Provincial and Local Government into the department of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, signified the importance and the role of traditional leaders in the lives of the people, especially in rural areas. "Government regards traditional leaders as partners in the implementation of its programmes," she said.