By Thato Setilo: The Xhariep District will see development with investments totaling more than fifteen billion rand.
According to Free State Premier Mxolisi Dukwana who
said during Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s visit to the
small mining town of Jagersfontein in the Kopanong
Municipality as part of the District Development Model
(DDM) on Tuesday.
Premier Mxolisi Dukwana and Deputy President Paul Mashatile at Xhariep District, Jagersfontein
The Premier addressed the community during a meeting in the devastated town where the mine dam collapsed leaving many residents losing their homes, and others succumbing to their deaths.
The focal point of the visit was to answer the consuming inquiries of reconstructing the local area that was so devasted by the calamity and to address the cruel financial difficulties that proceed with see by far most jobless and perlious living conditions.
Cooperating through the DDM, all circles of government answered unequivocally to issues of monetary and advancement in Xhariep, Kopanong in particular.
Deputy President Mashatile visited one of the homes that are getting closer to completion today and was pleased with the standard. The process of building new homes for people who have been displaced is in progress.
The Deputy President visited the water treatment plant and met with management of the mine, who reiterated their commitment to taking full responsibility for the loss of the community and to be at the center of restoration and rebuilding the community. They were accompanied by EXCO led by the Premier, the Mayor of Kopanong, Councillor Xolani Tseleletse, and Deputy Ministers for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Parks Tau, and Fikile Majola.
Through the Department of Economic Small Business Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs(DESTEA), the provincial government will soon launch two massive projects in the district in collaboration with the municipality. First, there is a solar plant that is expected to create 6,000 jobs in Xhariep. Furthermore, a cannabis industrial site which will embark on manufacturing of a variety of cannabis products such as textile and clothing, medicinal and hygiene products and many others.
The Department of Agriculture has allocated four million for immediate use in Kopanong’s agriculture. Animal feed, water reticulation, and fencing will be used to assist small-scale farmers who lost some of their livestock.
The Department of Sport, Arts, Culture, and Recreation will begin construction on a Multi-Purpose Centre in Kopanong as a means of preventing drug and alcohol abuse as well as other forms of social ills in Jagersfontein and the surrounding areas.
The provincial government through the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will kick-start the process that will enable provincial government to assist the municipality in resolving water provision challenges confronting the municipality and this is to happen as soon as yesterday.
Deputy President Mashatile established a Project Management Task Team composed of Deputy Ministers, MECs, Mayors, Municipal Officials and experts who will meet regularly and see to the full implementation of all deliverables committed to by all parties involved.
” To rebuild Xhariep we need to reimagine it, and that begins with letting go of our attachments to the old. We will build an industrial area which will house a variety of companies, among others, soap factories, hemp factories and an agricultural industry. We are working together with merSITA to develop and to upskill our youth. This initiative will greatly empower our communities to be a place of economic activity that has the full control of the entire value chain. Through education we will solve our own problems here at home” said Premier Dukwana Mxolisi
Premier Dukwana Mxolisi
CENTRAL NEWS
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