Kgalagadi housing within budget, time

Zolani Kraai | Tuesday March 18, 2014 12:24

In his keynote address at the council open day last Thursday, Southern District Council (SDC) chairperson, Leach Tlhomelang said despite the challenges KGDC had, it managed to succceed in the endeavour to construct the houses. The budget for the houses was P5,780,000 and the completion date was end of the current financial year. Out of the 88 houses, 10 were built in Khawa and were completed within a month.  Tlhomelang said that the council has not succumbed to the economic challenges that had a huge impact on the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) budget.

“As such, I am well informed that the council had to cut down on the maintenance of buildings and roads, hence it had to prioritise on essential services such as orphan car programme and poverty eradication programme,” he said.

Tlhomelang told the gathering that the council could not have achieved its milestones without its neutrality in selecting the beneficiaries. “Freedom from corruption on the procurement of the materials and equality in how they treat members of the community made them succeed,” Tlhomelang said.

The open day, which was the third to be held in KGDC was organised to promote a robust interaction between the council and the community it serves. It was meant to provide the council with the opportunity to reflect on the challenges it faced. It sought to interrogate the lessons learnt in the endeavour to provide effective services to the community.  Tlhomelang urged all stakeholders, especially the council staff and communities to work together towards one common objective. “It is my hope that we also re-chart the way forward in improving the infrastructure and in the shaping of the economy of the district, considering the challenges that the district has been facing,” he said. He said the efforts would go a long way in achieving a dignified life for all, especially the disadvantaged people, through the delivery of tailor made government programmes.

The KGDC open day was held under the theme: “Kgalagadi District, our commitment, our pledge, our pleasure towards attaining Vision 2016”.