Meet Your Bulawayo Councillor: Cllr Khumalo has uplifted the Ward from the ashes
Cllr Khumalo is a very humble, yet very industrious Servant Leader who believes that his service to the electorate is the epitome of his political career. When ZDDT drove to his ward to conduct this interview, we found the Councillor educating the residents about the importance of reporting any water leakages or faults to the City Council. He then proceeded to arm all the residents present with the Toll Free Line to the City of Bulawayo Call Centre.
Cllr Siboniso Khumalo was born to a family of 3 in 1969. He lived in the township of Lobengula (Ward 14) until his marriage, when he relocated to Luveve (Ward 15) before eventually buying a house and settling in Pumula South in 2003.
In his arrival in Pumula South, Cllr Khumalo embarked on several social activism and community development projects with other constituents, a development that rendered him a significant and popular figure in the Ward.
“In 2003, I bought a stand and built my house here in Pumula South. I immediately got involved in various community projects that were led by the then Councillor, Roger Sibanda. We had a fine run administering the community projects and people were very happy with the efforts we were putting into the development of the ward,” he said.
When the people of Pumula South eventually called for him to contest the 2008 elections as their Representative, he took the call with both hands and has not let the people down. Since the inception of his term of office, Cllr Khumalo has uplifted the Ward from the ashes of economic meltdown and political crisis that bedevilled the nation over the past decade.
Solely armed with the passion of developing the new township and the zeal to mend the social fibre that had been torn to rags by the political turmoil, Cllr Khumalo embarked on a steep-sloped and slippery road. Despite all the hurdles faced, he has managed to turn calamity into a sweet victory, as he has become one of the most influential and well-accomplished local leaders, in terms of community development.
“When the people asked me to lead them, I did not have confidence in myself but, as I got along well with the previous Councillor, I frequented his home for advice. He helped me and so did the other community members and ever since then I have not looked back,” said Cllr Khumalo.
In 2008, Ward 27 did not have a single borehole, nutritional/community garden or any recreational centres. It did not take long for Cllr Khumalo to cast his eyes wide in search for interested stakeholders to assist the community and ease the plight of the residents in regard to establishing projects that would ensure food security at a household level and, finally, income generation to improve living standards.
Presently Ward 27 boasts of 7 boreholes and 4 gardens. The boreholes were donated by another Civil Society Organisation (CSO), World Vision Zimbabwe, after Cllr Khumalo had managed to rectify the myth that the Ward was devoid of underground water. All the gardens need proper fencing mesh to protect the residents’ crops from animals such as donkeys and the occasional thief.
“When I commenced my term of office, my predecessor had said the ward does not have any underground water but I managed to convince World Vision to drill two boreholes as trials. They struck the water table at 25 metres deep on one borehole and 35 on the other. With this realisation, they agreed to drill more boreholes and we now have a total of 7 boreholes in the Ward. We have allocated community gardens to 3 of the boreholes and the garden beneficiaries are doing well for themselves and the community at large,” he said.
Cllr Khumalo has also cultivated, established and nurtured healthy relationships with numerous CSO,s such as ZDDT and World Vision Zimbabwe. He thanked these CSO’s for coming in and partnering with the Local Government when the Authority was in dire straits and at its lowest service delivery capacity.
He said the presence of these organisations has had a very positive impact on the operations of the Local Authority (LA), a development that has led to significantly improved service delivery for the residents. He said this improvement has in turn impressed the ratepayers to the extent of motivating them to willingly render their dues.
“I would like to thank ZDDT for the Leadership Training Workshops it has continued to conduct with us as Councillors. These workshops have come as eye openers for us as we can now execute our duties more efficiently. These workshops have well equipped us and I for one have now acquired great confidence from the trainings. It is important to highlight that these organisations came to the Council’s rescue when the Local Authority was operating at a very low capacity. They boosted the capacity of the Local Authority,” said Cllr Khumalo.
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“The presence of ZDDT under the auspices of its Sebenzela concept, has opened our eyes as Councillors understand that, in whatever we do, we are not doing it for ourselves but for the communities we lead. It has also helped instil the culture of volunteerism amongst the residents, as they now understand that, by so doing, they are preserving their communities. They now understand and have embraced that total community buy-in is imperative in community development,” he wrapped up.