The Executive Council of the government of KwaZulu-Natal, led by the Honourable Premier, Mrs Nomusa Dube-Ncube, hosted Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS) Cabinet Day at eThekwini Metro on Wednesday, 27 March 2024.

OSS aims to integrate the services of the Government in order to ensure that it enriches the lives of all citizens. It serves as a platform to assess, monitor and evaluate the progress of service delivery. Transparency is key, therefore public participation is encouraged.

MEC Super Zuma, accompanied by Champion HOD, Mrs Vilakazi from the Department of Social Development, visited In Excess Trading Project, a furniture manufacturing company trading as Tekfurn Furniture. Their specialty is in dining and bedroom sets, kitchen cabinets and plasma units. The company received funding to the value of R2 million from the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs in October 2021.

It started off with 20 employees but that number has increased to 58 permanent and contract workers. Tekfurn Furniture supplies Lewis stores countrywide and a few independent businesses.

The day’s second visit was to the Issy Geshen Lamont Home for the Aged. The home is currently under renovations which will be completed in the next 4 months. It houses 68 elders mainly from Lamontville but has a few residents from Gauteng, the Eastern Cape as well as the Northern parts of KZN.

There has been a desperate need to expand the home and make it accessible to those using wheelchairs. The KZN Department of Human Settlements has funded the building project with R11 million. The funds will be used for new bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms that will accommodate 4 elders each, an activity room, office for the Matron and for upgrading the roof of the main building.

The MEC ended with a community engagement at the Lamontville Community Hall where residents of Ward 75 raised issues pertaining to uncollected waste, asbestos roofs which need to be replaced, leaking water pipes, inhumane living conditions in some parts of the Ward and unemployment.

A period of three weeks has been set aside to come up with sustainable solutions to all issues raised. MEC Super Zuma has committed to returning to Lamontville on 6 May 2024 to conduct a thorough assessment on progress and to introduce some of the Department’s Programmes to the community.