By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – The residents of ward 28’s long wait and patience in the piercing cold was rewarded with jobs as the MEC for the Free State department of Community Safety, Roads, and Transport Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae’s a raffle revealed the lucky bunch.
The local municipality of Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) is scheduled to have several roads fixed and upgraded in a project that is worth millions of rands.
On April 9 Leshoha-Mathae visited the community of ward 28 at the Sentinel grounds accompanied by ward councillor Mary Crokette, at a meeting that saw the MEC conduct a raffle draw that revealed the names of the lucky few community members who will be getting temporary employment working on the fixing of the road between Setsing Central Business District and Monontsha.
One of the lucky residents, Feiki Moloi of Mokabatane in ward 28, said she is very happy that her name was drawn in the raffle and that she can also be economically active as she becomes part of the development project in her community.
Boitumelo Moeti from Mabolela shared the same sentiments: “I am very happy to be chosen because this raffle draw was fair and transparent; the names were drawn right in front of all of us gathered here. There was no bias or corruption of who knows who. I am the breadwinner at home, so this opportunity is going to help a lot.”
Letsoha-Mathae emphasized to the residents that they must not think she has come to their community because it is election time, and refrain from coming to such community meetings only because there is an opportunity of employment.
MEC Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae addressing residents if ward 28.
“I am here because the ANC-led government realized that the roads in Maluti-a-Phofung have been neglected and are in very bad shape. We are here because it is necessary; elections come and go but the roads are necessary and need to be fixed. People must make sure to be active citizens and participate in community meetings instead of just coming because they want jobs.
“I am grateful to Pastor Mary who has acted like an ever-ready battery. I can see that a lot of you are here today because of her efforts. We don’t want this project to cause chaos and conflict in the community. We know that the people are used to raffle draws so we decided to do just that today.”
The raffle saw 50 names from different parts of the ward being drawn. This contract run for a period of six months as part of the road fixing project; 10 names that were drawn as reserves. Those who were selected were not recipients of any government grant or part of any Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
