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MATSAPHA MUNICIPALITY ASSETS INCREASE BY 3%

28/09/2022 15:07:00 Mhlengi Magongo

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MATSAPHA – The growth in assets for municipalities is imperative to the businesses situated in the area, as it increases the competitive edge.

The growth in assets is not only advantageous to businesses but imperative to residence as it contributes to the movement of rates. The Matsapha Municipality Council (MMC) has recorded an increase of three per cent for their assets, they hiked from E99 843 184 in 2021 to E101 891 169 in 2022. This was outlined in the council’s annual and audited financial report for the financial year 2021/2022. The growth in the council’s assets was necessitated by the hike in their property, plant and equipment assets which were over E2 million.

receivables

Another noticeable increase for the council was observed in their trade and receivables assets which hiked by over E8 million. Chairperson of the MMC Councillor (CLLR) Alice Russo said the year 2021/22 presented the council with a lot of opportunities and a need to improve service delivery. “Guided by the Integrated Development Plan of 2018–2024, council began the implementation of the Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2015) and we have seen an improvement in the way we operate as a Municipal Council,” she said. Russo mentioned that the above has brought them a step closer to acquiring the Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2015) certification which they hope to achieve in the next financial year.

In the year under review, she said the council continued to fast-track the development of Farm 105 Township, from being an informal settlement to a formal settlement. Under this project, she said they had successfully conducted the Environmental Audit and Comprehensive Mitigation Plan, which is an achievement in the implementation of this project. “The journey towards the successful completion of this project is near. Council would like to encourage the residents of this township to continue to effectively work with Council in finalizing the township upgrade. As the local authority of the town, we are proud of the massive infrastructural development that has taken place in the town amounting to approximately E251 592 990 in the 2021/22 financial year. This continues to reflect the town’s major contribution to the economy of the country and maintains our position as the Kingdom’s Investment Hub,” she added.

disruption

The CLLR added that the 2021/22 financial year had its challenges which led to the disruption of their operational schedules, however, despite those challenges, they found new and innovative ways of combating them and continued to do the work that was required of them. “As Matsapha Town Council, we continued to abide by our core values which require us to be accountable and professional in our way of implementing our mandate as a local authority of the town.” This was mentioned by Matsapha Town Clerk Lucky Sukati in the report. Sukati said the year under review presented the council with a host of new challenges largely due to the June/July 2021 national unrests and the COVID-19 pandemic which continued to disrupt the way they conduct day-to-day activities.

However, he said, with those key challenges, the council continued to ensure that Matsapha had a conducive environment for businesses to thrive and create meaningful employment opportunities for emaswati. “Guided by the Integrated Development Plan of 2018–2024, council implemented activities and projects that are enshrined in this development plan. This included the rehabilitation of the King Sobhuza 11 Avenue road which had been in a poor state for an extended period of time,” he said.

rehabilitated

Sukati also mentioned that council also rehabilitated and maintained several roads within the town to ensure ease of movement of both light and heavy duty vehicles and pedestrians.
He said while they appreciate this growth, it has attributed to a number of challenges they have to actively embrace. These include major traffic congestion issues which were evident during peak time hours. Short and long-term mitigation strategies and plans have been developed by council however due to budgetary constraints; Sukati said this problem remains a hindrance to the ease of vehicle movement within the town. He added that these mitigation strategies include the improvement of the Police College road MR31 which is projected to cost around E40 million and the construction of the Matsapha Interchange MR3 which is a project estimated to cost around E150 million.