Former MEC of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure Jerry Ndou, recently marked his 100 days in office as the new MEC for Cooperative Governance Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA).
Ndou’s move to CoGHSTA came after Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha reshuffled his cabinet late last year.
To mark his 100 days, MEC Ndou met with the media, councillors and community development workers at 2ten hotel in Thohoyandou last Wednesday.
“One of the reasons we are here today is to interact with stakeholders on issues that relate to the area that we work in. Earlier, we had to visit a certain school at Tshikundamalema in Musina. We went there because last year during a back to school campaign we identified some elements that need our intervention,” says Ndou.
Our community development workers also identified a poor family with six family members living in a very terrible condition.
We then decided to build a house for them and help the kids to get admission to a local school although they do not have birth certificates, because their mother does not have an identity document (ID).
As the MEC and his team continue building on the successes that his predecessors have achieved, there are still key areas that they need more focus such as challenges in providing housing to the poor, the land question and the performance of municipalities of which eight have been classified as dysfunctional.
Ndou says some of the challenges faced in municipalities are due to lack of capacity and the department is trying in multiple ways to intervene and fill critical vacant posts such as Municipal Managers and Chief Financial Officers.
