Parliament rebuffs Moswaane call on VDCs
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday April 15, 2015 15:54
Moswaane’s call to Parliament to intervene followed the publication of the new regulations by the Ministry of Local Government recently. He was specifically worried about the clauses dealing with the election and appointments of the committees.
According to the amendments, in the villages, the council shall appoint 10 VDC members while in towns, members would be voted through a secret ballot.
This goes against the current procedure in which the VDC committees are voted into office by the villagers in the presence of Kgosi.
The new regulations also stipulate that the appointments to the Ward Development Communities (WDC) would not be done without the consultation of council, Dikgosi and District Commissioner as it was before.
Arguing for the suspension of the regulations, Moswaane said it was important for consultation before it comes to effect. “The new Act takes away people’s expectation which include the right of voting their leaders. People at the villages and towns feel proud when they elect people at Ward Development Committee or Village Development Committee level,” Moswaane said.
Deputy speaker, Kagiso Molatlhegi, said Moswaane’s plea was not successful because he failed to follow Parliament proceedings.
According to the new Act, the committee shall develop strategic and annual plans for their community, mobilise the community to identify projects, solicit the assistance of donors and other development agencies or partners through assistance of the council, provide a forum of contact between and among community representatives, local leaders, politicians, district or urban authorities, community based organisations and non- governmental organisations to enhance the flow of development information.