MEC urged to breathe life into faltering economy

By Libuseng Nyaka

QWAQWA – Sixty-seven-year-old Alina Letsoko, who has worked at Agric of factory at Phuthditjhaba industrial area for 37 years, has urged finance and economic development MEC Ketso Makume to return the dilapidated area to its former glory of attracting even tourists.

Letsoko said this during Makume’s monitoring visits at factories to find out how best he can intervene to boost economy.

“This area used to be hub of numerous activities thereby generating lots of income. Business used to boom because everything was in order: there was electricity and water as well cleanliness. We used to sew clothes for tourist who were impressed by our factory. We used to spend most of our time here turning this area into our second home because we were very busy sewing day and night. Some of our children were born and grew up because of the work we do for this area,” Letsoko said.

She, however, regretted how things have depreciated and are deteriorating. “This area is not even good for human being; toilets are not functioning because there is no water. We pay R5 to use outside toilets. Our work is interrupted by continuous power cuts and as a result clients have lost faith in us due to failure to deliver stock on time.”

MEC Finance, tourism, and economic development engaging with Agricpark occupants at Phuthaditjhaba.

Revealing the purpose of his visit and what he has identified after his tour of factory shells owned by the Free State Development Corporation in Qwaqwa, Makume said he has a clear picture of the situation.

“I wanted to get factories which are functional and those that are dysfunctional, and I got the picture now. With the ones that I functional I can tell you that the good story is that even the occupants are paying the service which they are supposed to do. The ones that are not functional they do not pay for services, they do pay their workers as they claim. There are also those that are white elephants not working and I have asked CFO to work on a turn around strategy to improve the factories,” Makume said.

He also encouraged FDC to recruit more clients to occupy and pay rent for space they use.“So far, I am very impressed with what the staff of FDC is doing. I am going to support them to ensure that they have my backing.”