The town of Matsapha was graced with a visit by the newly appointed Minister of Housing and Urban Development, His Royal Highness Prince Simelane. The visit took place on the 29th of November 2018.
The Matsapha Mayor, Sandlane Zwane, welcomed the Minister, congratulating him on His appointment and pledge to support him during his term of work. He appreciated the Minister’s statement on him learning about the operations of the ministry, which had been misinterpreted in the media. He highlighted how it was unfortunate that it was misinterpreted as he saw it as humility by the Minister, who was only paving way for people to freely approach him with their opinions and suggestions.
The Town Council had planned a full orientation event, starting from introductions; presentation on Municipal activities in the town and finally a tour of Matsapha town, which was both facilitated by the Town Clerk, Lucky Sukati. Fortunately, this was in line with the Minister’s expectations as he mentioned in his remarks that he was interested in the work that the council had put in as well as future plans for the town as the whole country was working towards attaining the First World status by 2022.
His Royal Highness Prince Simelane, shared a few words of wisdom which he linked to the attainment of His Majesties’ visions, such as HRH King Sobhuza II vision of building of skyscrapers and the 2022 vision by HRH King Mswati III. He emphasized that the only way to realizing the dreams was to work in a certain manner.
Firstly, the Prince spoke to the need of having good working relationships and the importance of working through problems by following set procedures. Secondly, he warned that money or funds should be used accordingly and council should refrain from any form of corruption, with the idea of meeting the ratepayers’ needs and maintaining clean financial audits. Thirdly, council was encouraged to explore other ways of generating revenue rather than relying on rates collections. Concluding, Prince Simelane congratulated the council for its efforts which have even extended to catering to both the upper and lower classes.
