The rural Mnquma municipality this week started with construction of its posh new offices which will cost about R200m.
After years of renting private property or using a community hall, the municipality is hoping that in two years’ time it will finally have a state-of-the-art office park.
The office park, according to the municipality, will also house the council chamber and have a gallery for community members to attend.
It will also house most of the departments in the municipality except for the department of community safety and its budget and treasury office.
It will also have a section to accommodate the municipality’s yellow fleet.
Municipal spokesperson Loyiso Mpalantshane confirmed they had handed over the site for construction on Monday.
The company will first have to demolish an existing municipal building which includes the offices of the speaker, chief whip, mayor and municipal manager.
“We didn’t have a venue for our council meetings so we rented conference facilities externally because the current council chamber could not accommodate the number of councillors,” Mpalantshane said.
A number of departments in the municipality were housed in buildings, some owned by the municipality, around Butterworth, according to Mpalantshane.
“It [the new building] also centralises the whole of the municipality,” he said.
Centralisation of the offices would also speed up service delivery.
Mpalantshane said the total budget of R184m for the full construction would come from the municipality’s own revenue and not from grants.
In a statement, the municipality said a minimum of 50 jobs would be created with up to 30% of the spend going to small businesses
Mayor Tunyiswa Manxila-Nkamisa said the new building “belongs to the people of Mnquma”.
“This facility will be a one-stop shop where all service-delivery-related issues will be dealt with and resolved with extreme sense of urgency.
“It is not only going to change the face of our town but is a new chapter for effective and maximum service delivery for the benefit of Mnquma citizens,” she said.
She urged Mnquma citizens to be patient during the two-year construction period and to protect the facility from vandalism and theft.
Opposition councillors have welcomed the new development.
EFF leader Vuyani Manxodidi said the municipality had followed all the processes leading up to the project.
“They tabled the plan [in council] and why it should be done in this financial year.
“It was discussed in the previous administration but never implemented.
“It does not affect the IDP and service delivery. We accepted it in council,” he said.
He said they supported the item because of the advantages brought about by the municipality owning its own premises.
Manxodidi said with the current setup, they had to hire venues around town and when meetings were inquorate, they lost money.
They would, however, monitor the progress of the construction.
Batho Pele Movement councillor Zama Bomela said his party also supported the development.
“Our municipality, for years, had a problem with proper offices and we spent a lot of money on rental ... we had to ensure that we had offices,” he said.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.