Kgoshi Mokoena, Premier Mtshweni-Tsipane and Dr Norah Fakude Unvailing the plaque
By Kopano Dibakwane
More than 40 Amakhosi from various parts of Mpumalanga attended the official hand over of a newly-constructed state-of-the-art office to the Mathibela Tribal Authority, under the leadership of Mpumalanga House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, Kgoshi Lameck Mokoena, at Oakley in Bushbuckridge, on Tuesday 14 May 2024.
The hand over was led by Mpumalanga Premier, Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, alongside the MEC for Human Settlements, Speed Mashilo, and the Executive Mayor of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Sylvia Nxumalo.
The office blocks will be reportedly providing services by various government departments such Home Affairs, SASSA (South African Social Security Agency), UIF(Unemployment Insurance Fund), Periodical Court of Law, NYDA(National Youth Development Agency), to name but a few. The block of offices also feature a kitchen and a hall with the capacity to accommodates about 100 people.
Premier Mtshweni-Tsipane said the new facility will play a crucial role in promoting cultural heritage and bolster the working relationship between traditional leadership and local communities.
She said that the offices were built to give Amakhosi the stature of authority that they rightfully deserve.
“ This block of offices is one amongst many that we have built within the province and some of them were renovated for our Amakhosi across the province. We firmly believe that there cannot be an ANC-led government that stands outside the leadership of our traditional authority because they were very central and instrumental during the dark days of our liberation struggle.
“ The community of Mathibela will now have a descent place to discuss issues of concern, be it the crime, Gender Based Violence(GBV), and many other issues that affect the community,” said Mtshweni-Tsipane.
Kgoshi Mokoena said the community of Mathibela, which consists of 48 villages and a population of about 120 000 people, will benefit from the new offices.
He added that 48 offices, out of 61, were already built for other traditional authorities in the province, while the remaining offices will be built in due time as contractors have been already identified.
“ This office has been fenced and fully furnished with all the required equipments. As a Kgoshi I’m very excited, there are many offices here and our people can just walk in and get services,” said Kgoshi Mokoena.
MEC Mashilo has commended the provincial government for introducing the infrastructure within the community of Mathibela.
“ The traditional council is one of the pillars in our democracy. We have built many traditional councils in the province and we will continue to open others. We aim to reduce the number of cases in the criminal court, so that we take some cases to the traditional court, in particular the GBV cases and family disputes, so that they can be resolved. We’ll continue to allocate resources such as vehicles and an administrative system so that they can do their work very well,” said Mashilo.
