The R15-million Paul Roux Bethlehem Bulk Water Supply Scheme launched today by Premier Ace Magashule and his cabinet will see 9 200 families having access to clean drinking water for the first time in their lives.

Residents of the town had to depend on boreholes for water supply and due to the lack of running water were forced to use the bucket toilet system instead of portable toilets.

However, their fortunes changed yesterday when Magashule accompanied by social development MEC, Sisi Ntombela, cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs MEC, Olly Mlamleli,  descended on the small town to launch the bulk water project.

Government has now installed a 45 kilometre water pipeline from Bethlehem to Paul Roux to ensure that there is water on the doorsteps of all the residents of the area. The project was rolled out in two phases. Construction of the pipeline started in 2010 and is expected to be completed in June this year.

Speaking at the official launch ceremony, Ntombela said residents of Paul Roux will have access to water for the first time in hundred years. She said it was commendable that the provincial government had managed to deliver water to the community within the first 20 years of its rule.

“Now that is a very good story to tell, and I had been talking to local women who have expressed their gratitude at this endeavour because when there are problems with water under any circumstances it is the women that stand to suffer,” said Ntombela.

Mlamleli said the lack of running water had denied residents of the area the opportunity to do basic necessities such as cooking, watering their gardens and plants, washing and bathing.

“Because of this development we are now going to build houses with running water taps inside, flushing toilets and bathrooms,” said Mlamleli.

Dihlabeng Local Municipality technical director, Afrika Masuku, said 41 local residents were employed during the construction phase of the project.

The executive mayor of Dihlabeng Local Municipality, Chetane Mofokeng, praised the joint efforts of the provincial government and the national department of water affairs to bring water to Paul Roux.

“It is a great milestone given that the people here did not have water for a century, we really appreciate this intervention as the municipality to deliver basic services and sanitation to our people,” said Mofokeng.

Government has also built a new waste water treatment in the area which will process sewerage from neighbouring townships and cleanse it for recycling purposes.

Project manager, Willie Lyons, said more people will be employed during the construction of a fence to protect the pipeline and the waste water treatment site and the future management of both facilities.

The streets of Bohlokong in Bethlehem, under Dihlabeng Local Municipality, were a kaleidoscope of the red, blue and white colours of the Tyrannus Apostolic Church when Premier Ace Magashule, members of executive council and Apostle Simon Mokoena led more than ten thousand men and boys in an anti-women abuse march last Sunday.

The march was organised by the church to throw its weight behind the national calls for an end to women abuse, drugs and alcohol abuse among the youth. It specifically targeted men and boys because they are the major perpetrators of these crimes.

“Our men are ordained to be leaders by God; He created man in his image, therefore our campaign is to call on our men and boys to act as leaders and be the protectors and providers to women and children. If we instill the importance of respecting women in our boys, the rate of abuse of women and children will be history,” said Magashule.

The premier said the Free State provincial government had teamed up with churches in its moral regeneration campaigns in order to ensure that the anti-women and drug abuse messages reach as many men as possible in the province.

During the march to the Tyrannus farm, Magashule stopped intermittently to engage with the communities he met along the way, to find out about their problems and how they could be addressed.

Shelter and unemployment topped the list of the people’s needs. One of the residents, Dibakiso Dlamini, requested a house and any kind of job to help her provide for her family.

In response, the premier took her details and promised that the relevant departments will attend to her problem.

Apostle Mokoena said the Tyrannus church’s partnership with the government to curb the escalating abuse of women and children by men and boys had borne fruitful results.

“The turnout of men and boys is evidence that we are getting to mould our boys and men into good leaders.”

The Dihlabeng Local Municipality has made massive investment in the development of soccer in the area as part of its efforts to take young people off the streets and away from the life of crime and drug abuse.

The executive mayor, Tjhetane Mofokeng, has donated R250 000 for the development of soccer in the grassroots structures in the area and has promised to increase it to R500 000 in the next financial year.

The local league, which was known as the Safa Dihlabeng Local Football League, is now known as the Dihlabeng Mayoral League and consists of 18 teams based in municipality.

The new sponsored league will see the winner of the league receiving a whopping R20 000 in cash.

“Give me a perfect reason why we should not invest our money in sport, especially our young and talented football players,” said Mofokeng during the launch of the league which was held in the Bethlehem recently.

The mayor said his dream is to see the league receiving an annual sponsorship of R1-million.

“Sport produces healthy minds and people with responsibility. I believe if all our people could be involved in sport, the level of crime will decrease.”

Maseru Mphati, the chairperson of the league, said they were proud and elated with the financial injection of a quarter of a million rand in football development.

“The financial injection will touch the lives of many of the young people who are currently participating at amateur levels. Many of them have got the potential to represent our municipality at a higher level, said Mofokeng.

Meanwhile, the Dihlabeng Local Football Association has launched a new women’s football league to bolster football in the region

The South African Football Association (SAFA) affiliated Local Football Association (LFA) in the region deemed it necessary to facilitate a programme that gave birth to the league, with the aim of breathing new life into football in the eastern Free State municipality.

Mphati said the league will consist of five teams that will represent the five towns that constitute the municipality.

“The league will include teams from Bohlokong in Bethlehem; Fateng Tse Ntsho in Paul Roux; Mautse in Rosendal; Mashaeng in Fouriesburg and Kgubetswana in Clarens. There are a very few clubs that are playing women’s football, so the ideas is to revive women’s football in our municipality.”

Mphati said he is confident that the establishment of the women’s league will develop future stars in the area.

“I am very happy that as part of our development programmes in Dihlabeng all divisions are playing football. We have the under-15 and under-17 leagues; the mayoral league; the unit leagues and now this women’s league.”

Mphati added that the Dihlabeng Local Municipality is assisting the LFA with the travelling costs of the teams, but added that the association is still looking for more sponsors.

The league will officially kick off at the end of July this year, where all the different team will travel across the five towns to honour their individual fixtures and the matches will be played on Saturdays.