South East councillors in S/Phikwe for benchmarking

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent | Friday November 12, 2010 00:00

(SPTC) despite the challenges it is faced with. This was said by SEDC Chairperson, Anne Joubert, who leda benchmarking delegation to the copper-nickel mining town this week. Her delegation, which had been toMahalapye and Serowe, was made up of councillors and heads of department of the South East DistrictCouncil. it will also travel to Francistown, Kasane, Maun and Gantsi.

Joubert said she and her delegationwant to learn how other councils operate and implement projects. Of particular interest in Selebi-Phikwethe Anne Adams Park, which is considered the best in Botswana.

We have a dam in Ramotswa that we wouldlike to turn into a recreation area,' Joubert said. 'At the moment, the dam is full of cattle instead of water.  She went on to explain that her district is divided into two sub-districts, namely Tlokweng and Ramotswa. While Tlokweng is a fully fledged council already, Ramotswa is still being set-up. Joubert announced that SEDC was making arrangements to twin with Sekhukhune in the Limpopo Province of SouthAfrica. The Mayor of Selebi-Phikwe, Lekang Mukokomani, said his council was able to make progress becauseit followed its vision and mission statement.

'Selebi-Phikwe Primary School and Selebi-Phikwe JuniorSecondary School are the best in the country,' the Mayor said. 'We are always at the top when resultscome out, which is an indication of hard work and dedication by teachers, councillors and parents.

He said it was an honour for them to be used for benchmarking by SEDC, adding that councils must work withone another for goods results. To that end, to twin with one another locally first, he said. MayorMukokomani said councils were currently fighting for autonomy and that when the desired independence wasattained, the councils would draw their budgets themselves and serve their communities better.

Selebi-Phikwe was a clean town because of the public education the council had carried out. 'We took adeliberate move some years ago to impose a ban on the use of plastics in Selebi-Phikwe,' said themayor. 'That was a deliberate move to show everyone that we were serious about the environment.

TheDeputy Town Clerk of Selebi-Phikwe, Mompati Seleka, told the SEDC delegation that the council had trainedpeople in various skills such as upholstery, catering, beadwork and decoration as a measure towards poverty eradication. On these training programmes, the council worked with other government departments.Seleka said some of the people who underwent such training had set up projects that were nowself-sustaining.  The Selebi-Phikwe Town Council also organised an annual trade fair in order for businesses to market their products. Before its departure, the SEDC delegation visited Anne Adams Parkand Botshabelo township.