A multi agency government drive is underway to ensure infrastructure is a at the required standard for the Mahika-Mahikeng Arts Festival scheduled for December.
The North West provincial government says it has mobilised the local municipality, the Ngaka Modiri-Molema District Municipality, the police and other stakeholders to ensure the four-day event is held without hustle.
The provincial arts and culture department held a media launch of the festival in Maboneng, Johannesburg on Thursday promising that includes award-winning American RnB singer Kerry Hillson, local police veterans Thebe and and Judith Sephuma who were both at the pre-festival event.
Arts and Culture spokesperson culture spokesperson Shuping Sebolecwe said roads, street lights and water infrastructure amongst others needed to be up to scratch when the event is held from the 7th of December.
“We are working with departments, with stakeholders. We’ve got a municipality and that is busy at hard time at work now preparing the roads, preparing the lights for our people. We’ve got the department of economic development and tourism that is also talking to the BNBs, the hotels to accommodate our people and reasonably and also checking if these people comply because we don’t want to put people who can come from the far on beds that are going to leave them with pains and all of that. So we are working together as government with strategic departments. Public Works is responsible for the roads. We don’t want people when they come there, they get punctures, hit the potholes and all those kinds of things,” said Sebolecwe.
The festival is scheduled to run from the 7th to the 10th of of December.