CIPA takes services to remote villages

Lebogang Baingapi | Tuesday December 5, 2017 17:53

The two villages are approximately 40km from Jwaneng by a gravel road and most of the community members survive on Ipelegeng, a government drought relief programme.

The CIPA office went all out to familiarise members of the community on the processes of company registration. The tour, which was sponsored by Debswana’s Jwaneng Mine, came out handy to the residents who were eagerly waiting to register their businesses and companies instantly.

Though the two settlements are considered remote and far from mainstream developments, the community came out in large numbers to learn about the CIPA services.

Arrangements were also made for the use of postal mail for fresh submissions. The Jwaneng Mine corporate affairs officer, Kemelo Mophuting explained that the initiative was one of their efforts to empower residents around their zone of influence.

She said the mine conducted a socio economic study and community perception study around the villages near the mine and the initiative is as a result of the outcome of the studies. She highlighted that the mine continues to work closely with the people of Tsonyane and Lefhoko to ensure that they benefit from the mine.

Kgosi Biki Nthomang of Lefhoko hailed Jwaneng Mine’s efforts of bringing developments to remote areas. He said the mine has been instrumental in bringing different service providers and entities to their place.

“We recently had another training from CITF which came to train our community on construction skills and issued certificates. Some of the residents also participated in pottery and beadwork in Jwaneng. Furthermore, Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) came to teach our Village Development Committee (VDC) about financial management; still courtesy of Jwaneng Mine. We are grateful for the CIPA visit, which is quite a life changing visit to the community,” said Kgosi Nthomang.

Recently, CIPA hosted a workshop in Jwaneng to capacitate residents of Jwaneng, Maboane, Mokhomma and Samane about the process of registering companies and businesses. CIPA gave feedback on issues such as reserved business and company names and also received fresh applications.