TheR2-billion Letsatsi power plant under construction in Dealesville, which falls under the Tokologo Local Municipality, has created hundreds of jobs for the local people and promises to significantly boost power production in the Free State.

Letsatsi is the biggest solar plant in the country and will use hundreds of solar panels to produce electricity.

The project is a public private partnership between utility company, Letsatsi Projects and the Free State provincial government. It is expected to be completed in May 2014.

The CEO of Letsatsi Project, Jeffery Robile, said the project is the first of its kind in South Africa. Once completed, the power plant will provide much-needed electricity to residents of the Free State and Northern Cape. Plans are afoot to ensure that the plant provides electricity to other provinces in the country.

The project has already created hundreds of jobs in the area.

“We have employed 700 people in total and 400 of them are from Dealesville. It was imperative that we employ people in this town to address the unemployment challenge and also transfer sustainable skills that the local people can be able to use in the future,” said Robile.

Robile said the people employed on the plant went through rigorous training from the company. Communication Manager of Letsatsi power plant, Sibulele Lusaseni, said 250 people out of 500 passed the rigorous test to work on the project. People with construction and electrical skills were invited for interviews and practical tests.

According to Lusaseni, the students were first taken through a skills development programme which involved attending classes on site.

 “They will be taught three to four hours a day and be guided by our assessors,” he said.

There are 45 people working permanently on the site doing administration, transport and cleaning work.One of the learners who participated in the project, Nelson Gonyongo, said he has learned a lot from the project.

Gonyono said his involvement in the project allowed him to gain the necessary experience in the construction and the electrical fields and also enabled him to learn how to read and write.

The Tokologo Local Municipality in the western Free State is in the process of resuscitating one of its game farms in Boshof in a bid to boost local tourism and generate income.

The municipality has set aside R4.7-million for the refurbishment and upgrading of the game farm outside Seretse township in Boshof.

The mayor of the municipality, Kegomoditswe Mokhobo, said the project, which is expected to be completed in October this year, will attract more tourists to the area and bring the municipality the much needed revenue.

“The project is already underway and I am confident that the contractor will meet his October dateline. We are planning to start marketing the farm in advance. Progress has been made to upgrade the chalets and increase their number to make accommodation easily available. We will also erect a paved road within the facility to ease movement of both people and vehicles,” said Mokhobo.

So far the chalets have been increased from four to nine.

After temporarily halting the renovations due to financial constraints, the project resumed late last year after being funded by the department of tourism, economic development and environmental affairs.

Following the completion of the project, the municipality will shift its focus towards revamping another game farm in Hertzogville.

“Game farms are one of our municipality’s major sources of revenue, so we have to make sure that they are maintained at all times to attract more tourists and hunters. The one in Hertzogville is still in good shape, but it needs a little extra attention to make it even more appealing to clients.”

Both game farms have animals such as springbok, impala, eland and wildebeest.

The Tokologo Local Municipality hopes the rebuilding of the Boshof sport complex will help take the local youth off the streets and help them lead positive lives.

The municipality’s mayor, Kegomoditswe Mokhobo, is adamant that the re-building of a sport complex in the township of Seretse will contribute to the reduction of crime and reduce the local youth’s exposure to drug and alcohol abuse.

The struggling municipality received a R10.1-million funding from Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to renovate the complex. Mokhobo said construction will commence soon.

During her visit to the dilapidated stadium this week, Mokhobo said the assessment of the scope of work to be done has been completed and building plans have been approved. A contractor will be appointed soon to commence with the project.

“We will soon appoint a contractor that will be able to do what we want with this field. I have realised that since our stadium got vandalised by strong winds in 2009 it is no more playable. It left our youth with nowhere to play and keep themselves busy.

“We no longer have any sport facility in the area hence I saw a need to upgrade this one that we have. This project is anticipated to take 12 months from the date of appointment of the contractor,” said Mokhobo.

The new revamped stadium will have tennis courts, a netball field, an athletics track and a soccer field.

During her arrival, Mokhobo met with a group of young kids aged between seven and 11 in the dusty and gravel stadium, playing soccer on bare foot.

“This is one of the reasons why we had to insure that this complex is renovated. It is dangerous for these kids to play in such terrible conditions without even shoes on their foot. They risk many injuries by playing in this ground.”

She added that parents need to encourage their children to participate in sports and utilise the revamped sport complex.

“People should understand that these facilities will be built for them and is not for the municipality, they have to make use of them appropriately and take care of them instead of destroying what belongs to them.”

Seretse is a small township within the municipality with no sport complex or place where youth can play any sport.

Nicco Morolong said they have been using the ransacked sport complex out of desperation. He thanked the mayor for her commitment to ensure that local youth participate in sport.

“Most of us are now reluctant to play football no matter how much we love it due to the state of our field. We will be happy if the mayor fulfil her promise and ensure that the contractor starts with the renovation of this stadium so that we can enjoy football too,” said Morolong.