Mabutsane councillors reject constituency fund share

Lebogang Baingapi | Tuesday November 14, 2017 17:03

Jwaneng was allocated P5 million and Mabutsane, which has 18 villages was given an equal share of the balance.

The councillors resolved last week that their share was not divided according to their proposal. It was previously agreed that each village will get P333,000 from the P5 million, but correspondence from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has a different story.

Some of the villages were given large amounts of money while others were given small amounts to carry out sustainable development projects as per the guidelines of the constituency fund.

The sub-council chairperson, who is also councillor for Sese, Kgopolo Stammere-Ramosesane confirmed to Mmegi that they wrote a letter through Southern District Council secretary, Poloko Mojalemotho to reverse the funds and call for fair distribution as per their request.

He said most of the villages have grown rapidly and the funds could be used to do minimal land servicing to ease land allocation.

“We had prioritised our projects according to the needs of our wards, but we learnt with disappointment that the distribution was not done fairly. Though Mabutsane was given approximately P400,000 and Kanaku an estimated amount of P250,000, we call for fair distribution because some of the projects at Kanaku were budgeted for the proposed amount.

“Water reticulation was also an issue that needed attention with the assistance of quotations from Water Utilities Corporation,” councillor Keberekile Pule of Mabutsane, Kanaku ward said.

Specially-nominated councillor, Burunyana Rantalajwe also told this publication that they will wait for a response from the ministry to learn of their fate. He said they had budgeted for the projects and it will be difficult to go back and redo the budget.

Rantalajwe also highlighted that going back to kgotla meetings and telling electorates that their funds have been reduced is not an easy task, hence the rejection of the offer.

In future, he said, the ministry should consider that the district had its priorities in mind when writing proposals.

For Case Lebotso of Sekoma/Mahotshwane, it was not an issue of fair distribution of funds per ward, but he was rather happy that Mahotshwane was given P400,000, which could be used for water reticulation in the thirsty ward.

He said they were also hoping to construct a day care classroom at the primary school. He, however, noted that they will wait for response from the ministry.

 Meanwhile, Jwaneng will construct vendor shelters for the informal sector, which has grown significantly with along with the commercial and service sectors.

There has been a challenge of operators situating themselves in undesignated places, which cause conflicts with those who have been formally awarded the space.

A report from the Ward Development Committee (WDC) noted that the current type of shelters do not augur well for the image of the town.

The shelters will therefore provide quality standard structures in an approved area that the WDC will generate income through leasing. The project will be under the custody of the Umbrella Development Committee.