Executive Mayor of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, Cllr Zandile Gumede;

Honourable Councillors;

iNkosi Maphumulo and other Amakhosi;

Directors-General and Heads of Entities;

Senior Managers present and all our esteemed guests;

Executive Mayor:

We are excited to be here this afternoon to officially launch the uMnini Thusong Service centre.

We are indeed very pleased to say that as a people we have every reason to be proud of this achievement, which serves as a symbol of our commitment to improving the quality of lives through effective and efficient delivery of services.

This Thusong Service Centre is a government initiative that forms part of the broader national Presidential programme that seeks to provide a one-stop shop facility for various local and provincial government services. We have no doubt that the centre, as its primary purpose, will build the bridge between the government and citizens of this community.

As government we remain concerned that people travel over 20 kilometers to access government services. We have discussed this matter with the Mayor with a view to bring about solutions.

On behalf of the national government as a whole, we urge all our people to utilise this Thusong Service Centre for the benefit of the community at large. It is important to state that there are wide ranging services, amongst others, there are social services of the Department of Social Development, civic services from the Department of Home Affairs and there is office of Ward 98 Councilor, which assists with issuing proof of residence letters and engagement with the ward committee on community matters.

We will engage with government departments that still have to occupy the space demarcated for them in the Centre such as the South African Police Services (SAPS), Department of Labour, Government Information Communication Systems (GCIS) and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA). The presence of these departments in the Centre will contribute to increasing service delivery points and thus ensure that citizens benefit by accessing more services within one Centre.

Our commitment to continental and regional cohesion would not necessarily mean that we neglect our national responsibilities. We earlier visited Madundubala village and engaged the community about all their concerns.

We also embarked on a visit to various service delivery points around eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. The delay experienced in completing the houses at the Thoyane Royal Housing Project is a concern and we shall engage with the national and provincial Departments of Human Settlements to unlock the challenge in terms of completing the project.

During our visit to Mfume Clinic, Departments of Labour and Home Affairs, we found some positive aspects of service delivery but we also encountered challenges on issues such as queue management system and access by people with disability. We will look into these challenges so as to ensure that efficient service delivery is not hampered.

As national government we have agreed with the eThekwini Metro to implement the e-Waste project which will employ 100 youth from this metro. The project has a potential to upgrade to 500 intake.

We are a government that is focusing on delivery of services and implementation. We are therefore making an undertaking to return to this community in August to report back on progress made.

We want to assure you that we are a government that cares, a government which serves the people.

I thank you