Mbengo again helps needy families
ANC councillor Mncedisi Mbengo has again assisted two families in Mlungisi with the installation of electricity in one home and the construction of another.
Resident Nomangaliso Mpinda, 58, has not had electricity in her Bulawayo home for more than 20 years and had relied on selling recyclables to keep up with the price of paraffin which she used for cooking, lighting the house and to boil water.
Mpinda, who lives with four other people, said the lack of electricity had cost her a lot.
“I had been to the municipality to ask if they could install electricity for me, but the money required was too high. The councillor intervened. We are truly blessed to have a councillor like Mbengo who makes it his problem to attend to people in need.”
After learning about the family’s plight, Mbengo wrote to the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM) to request them to install electricity in the home at no cost.
“Mpinda is a pensioner who has lived in this house for most of her life and it has never had electricity. She was unable to pay for the installation, hence I intervened and the municipality responded accordingly. I am proud to say from this day Mpinda will only need money to buy prepaid electricity and a certain percentage of the electricity tariff as she falls under indigent people.”
Mbengo also assisted a family in New Bright whose home was falling apart by asking for sponsorship from a local business to donate building material for the home to be built anew.
“When I saw the condition of the house I knew the people who lived there were not safe, the structure could fall down at any point. I contacted Osama Hardware who had helped me in a similar situation before to donate building material and people to work.
“They have started with the foundation of the house but the business owner has a bereavement so work will continue when he is back.”
Nombuyiselo Xinishe, who lives with her parents, said she was excited that her family would now be living in a warm house.