By Lubabalo Ngcukana

A call by President Jacob Zuma to save Mthatha has already started to bear fruit as work begins to give the embattled town a much-needed facelift.

Zuma, who visited Libode last month, said Mthatha could not be allowed to die.

Last year, the presidency committed to a R5 billion intervention after King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) mayor Siyakholwa Mlamli met presidential officials and members of the Cabinet to discuss problems in the town.

Since then, workers from various departments have arrived in full force to give Mthatha a facelift – much to the delight of businesses and ratepayers.

Projects that have already kicked off include fixing roads, work on the Mthatha stadium, revamping the local airport and ensuring the town is clean.

A R52 million road upgrade is being built by the South African National Road Agency and KSD in Nelson Mandela Drive and Madeira Street. Work started in February.

At the soccer stadium, the second phase of construction – which includes a soccer pitch and a 6 500-seater grandstand – is scheduled for completion next week.

For the first time on Monday, floodlights were switched on so that night matches can be played.

A multi-million rand revamp of the Mthatha Airport is also under way, which will see a new landing strip built to accommodate larger planes.

Mthatha is one of the few towns in the Eastern Cape that can boast clean streets during the municipal workers’ strike – also thanks to the intervention.

A clean-up campaign facilitated by the Department of Environmental Affairs has ensured the town remains neat and tidy.

It includes cleaning Mthatha River, collecting refuse, planting trees and sweeping streets night and day.

Mlamli said Mthatha River was one of the most polluted rivers in the country , and 270 people were employed to clean it.

The budget for the cleaning project, which started at the beginning of April, was R9.5m but could escalate to R40m since the Environmental Affairs partnered with private funders like Teba Bank.

The Transport Department has put in R220m to overhaul all Mthatha’s major internal roads, including creating bypasses to ease congestion, upgrading and extending Mthatha Bridge and converting Madeira and Sprigg streets into one-way streets.

“This is going to unlock the potential of the Wild Coast. (As) the President said, we need to rebuild Mthatha to its former glory,” Mlamli said.

The municipality is working with the Department of Energy to address KSD’s electricity problems, he added.

Source: Daily Dispatch