Hundreds of residents from the tiny village braved the cold weather on Friday to gather at a community hall ahead of Motlanthe’s arrival.

Government’s War on Poverty campaign, aimed at eradicating poverty in poor communities across the country was launched at Lubala in 2008.

At the time several community-based projects were set up to address the needs of locals who are mainly unemployed and this weekend Motlanthe will assess progress made in this regard.

These included brick making projects, sewing and awarding of tenders associated with the school nutrition programme to local people.

 The majority of people in Lubala depend on social grants while children walk far distances to access better schools.

Motlanthe, together with the Eastern Cape Premier, are expected to address the community on steps that would be taken to ensure the campaign achieves its objectives.

The 2010 budget supports several programmes aimed at rural development and poverty alleviation with more than R860 million set aside for the comprehensive rural development programme. – BuaNews