MEC DANTJIE AND SASSA CONDUCT OUTREACH IN SYFERBULT INFORMAL SETTLEMENT

By Petrus Siko.

•⁠ ⁠Bringing Services to the People: The Re thuse re go thuse outreach reduced costs and travel burdens by delivering government and social services directly to vulnerable residents.
•⁠ ⁠MEC Dantjie and SASSA provided practical assistance, including grants, identity documents, healthcare screenings, food parcels, and school uniforms for 58 learners.
•⁠ ⁠The programme demonstrates a people-centred approach, with plans to expand outreach across the province to address systemic social challenges.

Scores of residents from Syferbult and surrounding farms heaved a sigh of relief after the North West authorities conducted a day-long community outreach in their area.
The outreach, which brought together various government departments, their entities, and the banking sector, aims to bring government services directly to residents, particularly in vulnerable and remote communities. It seeks to foster dialogue between officials and community members to address local needs while facilitating access to essential resources such as social grants, healthcare, economic opportunities, and essential goods, including school uniforms and social relief of distress in the form of food parcels.
Led by the North West MEC for Social Development, Basetsana Sussana Dantjie, the flagship programme, dubbed ‘Re thuse re go thuse’ (help us help you), aims to reduce the cost and effort required for residents to access government support. It further seeks to empower communities through the dissemination of vital information while demonstrating government’s commitment to person-centred service delivery.
Addressing the residents, MEC Dantjie described her Re thuse re go thuse as a “service delivery machinery” aimed at restoring dignity by bringing services to the doorsteps of communities.
“We have mobilised a wide range of government departments and partners to deliver on-site services, including social grant applications, assistance with birth and identity documents, health screenings, social casework and referrals, and more. We hope to bring the same outreach programme to this area again, so that many people from the surrounding farms can access services,” Dantjie told the residents, as she vowed to return to their area with a similar outreach programme.
This high-impact outreach, held in partnership with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), is designed to bring vital government and social services directly to the community, with a special focus on residents in rural, remote, and underserved areas.
Expressing her profound gratitude to the authorities, local resident and chairperson of the primary school, Mirriam Mthimkhulu, said that the visit by MEC Dantjie and her delegation had made a meaningful impact. Her remarks came after the handover of school uniforms to 58 learners by MEC Dantjie and SASSA as part of the outreach programme.
Situated near Magaliesburg, Syferbult is among the most vulnerable communities in the North West, grappling with entrenched social challenges such as unemployment, poverty, and lack of proper documentation for children and adults.

The “Re thuse re go thuse” community outreach programme is expected to extend to other parts of the province in the current financial year as part of efforts to unlock service delivery bottlenecks and improve the lives of people.