Maunatlala goes hunting for developments
Onalenna Kelebeile | Tuesday September 22, 2015 14:47
Members of the task force, some of whom contested the past elections against Lesole have agreed to set their differences aside. They are touring some parts of the country to address Maunatlala residents to learn from them and work as a team for the development of their village.
Lesole, who is a member of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), is at the forefront of the taskforce together with Bonang Mafoko who contested the last elections under the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) ticket and another another opposition activist Patrick Tseleng.
When addressing residents in Selebi-Phikwe over the weekend, Lesole said politics has its own time hence villagers should not divide themselves along political affiliations but work together to bring developments to their village. She said her team was there to set an example that it is possible to work together amid political party differences. “I did this because I may have been elected by members of the ruling party, but I am now a councillor for the whole community. Political affiliations will not take us anywhere. We now need to work together as a team for the development of our village. I have fully consulted the village traditional leadership who are also members of the taskforce and the strategy is working positively for our village,” she said.
She said the mission of the taskforce is to try and fast track developments that are lagging behind through input of the community because waiting for government’s projects would not meet the village needs.
“While we advocate for developments in our village and request every resident to have an input, the strategy also promotes team building and unity among villagers in various towns and cities,” she added.
She urged the residents to work closely with both Members of Parliament, Nonofo Molefhi and Dithapelo Keorapetse as they can be of great input towards developing their village.
Mafoko said they are determined to work together to win the battle.
Meanwhile, Lesole highlighted that the village remains without a filling station despite the fact that 26 commercial plots were allocated to residents of Maunatlala to open filling stations.
She added that those plots were allocated a long time ago but they are yet to be developed. “We appeal to owners of those plots to pass them to those who can develop them so that we are able to have our own filling station in the village. I hope we will reach the owners of the plots though these meetings,’ she said.
The village has also seen the opening of a quarry and sand mining business after Mafoko was successfully issued with a temporary 10 year prospecting licence. The business will be the first in the constituency. Mafoko said valuers are already on the ground to ascertain the lifespan of the quarry, after which a permanent license can be issued.
He added that they also want their agricultural show, which covers 29 villages, to grow and reach the status of the Gantsi show given the fact that Tswapong is the only area in the country that has both farming activities and cattle rearing. The area covers Tuli Block.
“As such our shows must live to that status. We went for benchmarking in Gantsi and we hope to improve our show, especially through possible sponsorship from the Debswana Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa mines,” he added.