MEC DIKELEDI MAHLANGU IMPRESSED WITH REHABILITATION PROGRESS ON THE D9269 ROAD

Caption: MEC Dikeledi Mashangu doing a symbolic manual work

MEC DIKELEDI MAHLANGU IMPRESSED WITH REHABILITATION PROGRESS ON THE D9269 ROAD

BY BRIAN KAJENGO

The MEC for Public Works, Roads and Transport in Mpumalanga, Dikeledi Mahlangu on Tuesday voiced her happiness on the progress made on the D2969 road between Manzini and Swalala near Hazyview.

MEC Mahlangu was on a visit to inspect progress made since the rehabilitation of the road started in July 2013.

Mahlangu accompanied by Councillors from the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, Mbombela Local Municipality and Departmental management.

MEC Mahlangu started the day by speaking to the local community at the Manzini Community Hall at 10:00 in the morning.

She stated that she is happy that local people are benefitting from the project as 25 locals employed. This includes adult males, females and the youth. She also assured the community that the R35 million projects be completed on time as the scheduled completion date is set for June 2014.

“There is a lot of ground work that has already been done on the project. Grading done and drainage systems are already in place. We want to make sure that we produce quality work.

“Before you see a tarred road; we will make sure that the work done underground is quality to prevent rainfall and heavy trucks from destroying the road in years to come,” said MEC Mahlangu.

One of the local people employed on the project is Thulani Mathebula.

“I am happy that I got employment on the project. Our local Councillors played a big role because they were fair when selecting people who will work on the project. I was one of the lucky people who got selected because I was unemployed before and now I am able to put food on the table for my family” said Mathebula.

A member of the community identified herself as Sebenzile Bhanda. She says what the MEC did, shows that she cares about the people because she left her busy schedule to inspect the project. “This is great, because if the principals do not come to see for themselves what is happening on the ground; contractors tend to do shoddy work which gets dilapidated  in few months after the work has been completed,” said Bhanda.

MEC Mahlangu urged those who employed to make sure that they acquire enough skills during the duration of the projects so that they can use to get further employment or start their own businesses.