Youth to lead in growing Mpumalanga!

On February 24, the Premier of Mpumalanga Province, Mrs. Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, delivered the Mpumalanga State of the Province Address (SOPA) at the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature in Mbombela.

In her speech, the Premier talked about six main areas that the province will focus on:

• Creating jobs and empowering young people.

• Building infrastructure.

• Supporting local governments and improving services.

• Making health and education facilities better.

• Strengthening government accountability.

• The Just (Energy) Transition to curb the effects loadshedding on residents and industries.

The Premier talked about how many municipalities in the province are struggling to remove waste, but she also had a solution.

“Refuse removal remains a challenge for most of our municipalities”, said the Premier MtsweniTsipane, whilst also providing a solution that will assist in addressing this challenge.

The Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) framework will now let municipalities use the grant to buy solid waste removal trucks to help with this problem.

The Premier also talked about some things that the government has accomplished in the past year.

They made progress in providing water to Thembisile Hani and Dr JS Moroka Local Municipalities with the

Loskop dam water project. They also made sure people in Lothair, Chrissiesmeer, Warbuton, and Balfour have access to reliable water with the regional bulk water infrastructure project in Gert Sibande District.

A Provincial Water Master Plan has been developed to guide water infrastructure development in the province.

The Department of Water and Sanitation is working on the Mountain View Regional Dam project, which will provide more water to the Ehlanzeni District by 2027/2028.

The government also approved the Public Private Growth Initiative (PPGI) Operational Framework/ Model to help with unfunded catalytic projects and programmes in the District Development Model

(DDM) One Plans. They will start by testing it out in the Ehlanzeni District.

The Premier ended her speech by saying that the provincial government is at a crossroads.

They can choose to create a better future with shared prosperity, or they can continue to have extreme poverty, inequality, and social problems.

The State of the Province Address happens once a year.

The Premier talks about what the government has done in the past year and what they plan to do in the coming years. After the speech, political parties can ask questions and debate the issues.