Mopani budgets R2.7bn for service delivery
This was revealed by MDM Mayor Pule Shayi during his State of the District Address (Soda), held at the Mopani TVET College in Phalaborwa on Friday, July 4.
Shayi stated that R1.868 billion, or 68% of the overall budget, has been allocated to the operational budget. A further R638 million, making up 23.39% of the total, has been set aside for capital projects.
Additionally, 2.79% of the budget will go toward servicing historical debt owed to Lepelle Northern Water and the Department of Water and Sanitation.
Highlighting the district's priorities, Shayi emphasised that water infrastructure remains central to MDM's development agenda. He reaffirmed the municipality's commitment to ongoing investment in this area and provided an update on the Lulekani Water Scheme Project in Ba-Phalaborwa.
Phase 1 of the project, which focuses on communities in Ward 3 (Benfarm) and Ward 15 (Bico), is now 96% complete. It has so far created 60 job opportunities and supported 20 small businesses.
Phase 2A, serving Humulani in Ward 13, is 99% complete, having created 29 jobs and benefited 12 small enterprises.
Phase 2B, also in Humulani, is 95% complete and includes borehole development, equipment installation, electrification, a package plant, and the construction of an elevated steel tank.
Meanwhile, Phase 2C in Kurhula, also in Ward 13, has reached 98% completion. This phase has generated 50 jobs and supported 13 local enterprises.
Looking ahead, the municipality plans to continue the Lulekani Water Scheme Project in Benfarm during the next financial year, with a budget of R43.7 million allocated for its implementation.
The mayor also gave a brief overview of projects taking place in the district's other four local municipalities: Giyani, Tzaneen, Letaba, and Maruleng.
Before beginning his address, Shayi took a moment to acknowledge Phalaborwa United Football Club, which recently won the district play-off.
The team will now move on to the provincial play-offs, where they will compete for promotion to the second division.
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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The ban was instituted on May 15 following a single outbreak of bird flu on a farm in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. That isolated case effectively shut down 95% of South Africa's MDM imports overnight, as Brazil is by far the country's dominant supplier. Georg Southey, manager at Merlog Foods, one of South Africa's largest importers of chilled meats, welcomed the lifting of the ban but warned that the damage to food security has already been immense. 'This situation can recur in the case of another bird flu infection in Brazil,' said Southey. 'What is needed is an agreement between the two countries on a regionalisation protocol, so that a future isolated outbreak does not halt shipments from a very large country.' Regionalisation is a global animal health standard endorsed by the World Organisation for Animal Health and allows unaffected areas within a country to continue trade even if one region is impacted. A similar temporary arrangement is already in place with the United States, where individual states can self-declare as bird flu-free. According to Southey, the delay in reaching an agreement between Brazil and South Africa resulted in massive losses. 'The ban on MDM and items such as chicken livers from Brazil has amplified South Africa's food security crisis, with an estimated 100 million meals lost each week during the eight-week shipment stall,' he said. Prices of MDM have surged by 140% during the suspension, and South African producers, particularly those supplying school feeding programmes and lower-income markets, are now battling with shortages and inflationary pressures. Merlog Foods expects the first MDM imports to resume in the week of July 14, but cautions that it will take at least six to eight weeks to replenish supply chains, as the average shipment the average shipment takes over 28 days at sea. 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