MPUMALANGA – A spotlight will shine on a number of areas as Mpumalanga Premier Mandla Ndlovu delivers his official opening address of the 7th Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature this morning, July 31, 2024.
Ndlovu, who became Premier on June 18, 2024, is expected to share the government’s priorities on a wide range of issues, including economic growth and SMME development, building and upgrading infrastructure, job creation projects, as well as crime-fighting initiatives.
In his acceptance speech during the swearing-in, Ndlovu promised to build a capable state that functions optimally, delivering quality basic services to the people of this province. He added that for the first 100 days in office, he will visit all municipalities to get a better understanding of their challenges and assist them without interfering.
“However, I will not hesitate to intervene within the prescripts of the law should it become clear that our people are not getting the services they deserve,” he said.
He continued to say that he will launch a multimillion-rand fund driven largely by a public-private sector partnership that includes financial institutions, mining companies, the corporate world, and the SETAs. “This fund will focus on supporting SMMEs and also deal with skills development for out-of-school youth, youth that is out of tertiary institutions and unemployed,” he said.
He also promised to review all programmes and projects geared towards youth development, including the Premier’s Youth Development Fund, and many others, “appraise them and see if they have the desired outcomes and impact on the ground.”
On infrastructure projects, he said he will have to scale up the absorption of unemployed graduates, adding that working with SETAs, he will give the private sector incentives to absorb unemployed graduates through learnership programmes. He also mentioned that he will “build and renovate more schools, clinics, and attend to the maintenance of road infrastructure within the budgetary constraints.”
Opposition parties also expressed their expectations for Ndlovu’s address. The MK party said they are expecting the Premier to outline a detailed economic stimulus plan and a detailed plan to deal with unemployment and crime. “We also want the Premier to come up with plans to deal with dwindling infrastructure and dilapidated roads in the province,” said Marry Phadi, MK party leader.
The DA’s leader in the province, Bosman Grobler, said they expect the Premier to announce a detailed plan on how his administration will deal with the ever-increasing housing backlog and incomplete and abandoned infrastructure projects like the Middelburg Hospital, the Mkhondo Boarding School, and the High-Altitude Training Centre. “Disbanding MEGA and MRTT, announcing the opening date of the Mpumalanga International Fresh Produce Market, as well as the completion of provincial agri-hubs in Mkhondo and Dr JS Moroka municipalities,” Grobler said.
Thokozile Mashiane of ActionSA said they are expecting the Premier to address how he is going to make sure that the province is safe, especially regarding the 95 Libyan nationals that were arrested in White River after they were found training in a suspected military training base. “We also want to hear him talk about plans to tighten security on our open borders as illegal foreigners come in as they like in this province,” she said.
