Residents have their say at Exco Outreach

Premier Phumulo Masualle addresses Kouga residents at the Exco Outreach.

EASTERN Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle and two of his MECs received a warm welcome to Kouga on Friday.

The Premier, accompanied by Education MEC Mandla Makupula and Human Settlement MEC Helen Sauls-August, visited Kouga as part of the Eastern Cape Government’s annual Exco Outreach.

The purpose of the Exco Outreach was to afford residents the opportunity to interact with the Province’s leadership about service delivery.

“Government is often criticised for making commitments and then not following up with citizens to determine whether what was promised, had been done,” Masualle said.

“The aim of the outreach is to follow up on the commitments made by the Eastern Cape Government. It is also a platform for residents to raise new matters that they would like to see addressed.”

Among the key concerns raised by residents was insufficient transport for learners to and from school.

MEC Makupula acknowledged that the current transport arrangement catered for just more than 5 200 learners whilst more than 6 000 learners were in need of transport to and from their schools.

While the newly-opened Jeffreys Bay High School was expected to address some of the shortfall, the MEC said that a team from the Department of Education and the Department of Transport would visit Kouga before the end of the month to assess the situation so that a viable solution could be brought to the table.

Healthcare was another concern, with residents highlighting the need for clinics at Ward 1 (Oyster Bay), Ward 6 (KwaNomzamo) and Ward 4 (Kruisfontein).

A special plea was also made that more should be done for the elderly, including, the provision of wheelchairs, safe houses where they can be cared for during the day while their family is at work, and special sections at clinics specifically for the elderly.

MEC Sauls-August addressed questions around government housing in the Kouga region, confirming that the building of houses would start this year.

She said that a lack of bulk infrastructure had delayed the building of houses but that this was being addressed through additional funding secured for Kouga through her department.

She gave residents the assurance that the beneficiary lists of projects would be carefully managed and that Council would be expected to sign off on all beneficiary lists.

“Priority will be given to senior citizens and only I, as the MEC, will deal with prioritisation in order to root out any possible attempts at corruption,” she said.

The Premier gave participants the assurance that all comments and queries had been recorded and that feedback would be given once all matters had been investigated.

He thanked participants for the constructive engagement and stressed the importance of mutual respect, tolerance and integrity in all dealings between Government and its citizens.