Councillors brace for hefty windfall

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday February 22, 2011 00:00

 

The review of the council ward allowances is expected to be wrapped up next Monday and recommendations submitted to the Minister of Local Government, for implementation.

The Minister of Local Government, Lebonyemang Mokalake, yesterday confirmed he has put together a task force headed by councillors and ministry officials to go around the District Councils to get their suggestions on how the allowances for council wards can be revised.

The Task Force is today in the vast Central District Council (CDC) in Serowe where presentations will be made. And confidence is high among the politicians there that the only way for their ward allowances is up, as they remained unchanged since the last Delimitation Commission.

Currently council wards allowances are divided into four categories, with Category A, which covers areas in Chobe and Kgalagadi, fetching P33,276 per year, in ward allowances alone.

Majority of the council wards in the country fall under Category B, under which a councillor gets P30,250 a year. Thosed under Category C, which includes main villages like Kanye, Palapye, Molepolole fetch P27,515, while towns are in Category D, P25,004, per a year. According to a saving gram from the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government to all secretaries' and town clerks, the ministry is requesting for submissions on the grading of council wards.

The Task Force will later establish committees for the purpose of grading the council wards, and review the current grading of the wards, especially the last delimitation commission which resulted in the creation of new wards.

It will also recommend to the minister reasonable allowances for the wards, considering factors such as population, size, accessibility, terrain and compactness of wards. The team will then report to the minister on February 28.

Interview with selected councillors in the CDC yesterday revealed that urban civic leaders in Palapye, for instance, were unhappy with the current reward system, and see the Task Force as the ideal opportunity to push for the improvement of the allowance, arguing that they operate in difficult terrain that still consists of masimo and meraka.