Residents Lambast Guma For Deserting Them
Lebogang Mosikare | Monday May 15, 2017 16:22
The meeting was called to solicit comments from people of Matsiloje and neighbouring villages about how to control herds of marauding elephants that are causing havoc in the north east district and many parts of the country. But it turned out to be a taunting session for the deserting legislator
In the past, Guma has stated that he preferred workshops over Kgotla meetings because during latter, it is easy for constituents to derail one from one’s agenda. He said the workshops give him an opportunity to fully stick to his agenda and to get proper feedback from his constituents about problems they encounter in their daily lives. Former Matsiloje councillor, Simon Lephalo, who served for six consecutive terms, was the first to aim his barb at Guma.
Before he expressed his abhorrence at Guma’s absenteeism, Lephalo thanked Tshekedi for bringing along “the visitor”, (Guma to the Kgotla meeting). He said in the vernacular to Tshekedi, “Re itumelela gore o bo o tsile ka moeng wa rona, Rre Moyo”.
The onset of the dressing down led to bouts of laughter as Khama was the one supposed to be addressed as the visitor and not Guma. Lephalo said Guma has deserted Matsiloje residents without any lawful excuse despite the fact that he was their MP.
Informing Guma how an MP should treat his constituents, Lephalo said gone are the days when the Village Development Committees (VDCs) used to be led by people of low education, who could not offer anything of substance to MPs regarding development issues.
Lephalo said this after Matsiloje VDC Chairperson, Joel Mpetsane, delivered a report to Khama about the destruction caused by elephants in Matsiloje and the surrounding villages. Mpetsane is a retired senior secondary school headmaster.
Lephalo told Guma to his face that nowadays, some members of VDCs are more educated than some MPs and can offer him ideas that can better the development agenda of the villages better than some MPs. The former councillor advised Guma to desist from thinking that Kgotla meetings are of no value since he is missing on important information that can help him debate issues of substance in Parliament.
“You are my personal friend and I will not shy away from my responsibility of telling you the truth when I see that you have gone off the rails”. Another Matsiloje resident, Chombe Ncube, told Guma that he must desist from going for a long time without coming back to his constituents to note their problems and take ideas from them that can help develop their village.
Phillip Mmalane said he had no problem with Guma as his MP but his main worry was that Guma can disappear for a long time without coming to his constituents to convene Kgotla meetings to get ideas which he can use to effectively debate issues at Parliament. However, Guma found an ally in chairperson of the North East District Council, Florah Mpetsane.
When giving closing remarks, Florah said she thinks Guma has heard his constituents’ complaints and would correct his mistakes. Some residents who spoke to this publication after the meeting likened Guma to a Halley’s Comet saying he has a habit of going “AWOL” and then returning unexpectedly.