CLLRS denied Morope hot potato

Nnasaretha Kgamanane
Correspondent | Monday January 28, 2013 00:00

The sub-council chairperson Driver Motlokwa thwarted the wishes of councillors who were itching for an onslaught against those they thought were responsible for the state of affairs saying that the matter is sensitive and should be dealt with behind closed doors.

The matter landed at the full sub-council meeting last week with Gaphatshwa ward councillor, Kabelo Mokgalajwe expressing his disappointment with  the physical planning office on the Morope land issue. He said that for long, his people have been crying about the ward's lay-out plan that excluded many of their residential plots even though most of them lived in Morope long before the landboard was established.

He said that the people were unhappy with the fact that they were not consulted when the lay-out plan sketches were made as they could have assisted where possible. He pointed out that the landboard officials said they were not allocating plots in the ward but residents were surprised to see allocations. To make it worse, most of the plots that were included in the layout were new ones allocated by Kweneng Sub-Landboard. He said he was disappointed to learn that the lay-out plan was passed to the Town and Regional Planning office yet it had been agreed at a recent Kgotla meeting with the region's deputy District Commissioner, Mothibi Monyakeng and other officials at Morope that it should be withdrawn so that the issue can be discussed by the council and the SHHA and Physical Planning committee. He blamed the region's principal planning officer and the sub-landboard for coming up with the lay-out to satisfy personal interests and neglecting the community's needs.

As councillors were gearing to tackle the matter, Motlokwa cut them short and told them to go slow because of the sensitive and confidential nature of the issue. Meanwhile, Monyakeng said that during a recent Kogtla meeting at Morope residents did not show any serious concerns on the lay-out plan but only expressed distress on the ward's underdevelopment and lack of playing grounds for children. He heard that residents blocked the sub-landboard secretary and physical planner from entering the ward. He blamed the councillor and a task force chosen to look into the matter saying that they are the ones who are negatively influencing the people.

'The first time I tried to conduct a meeting in Morope, the councillor refused to meet with me which made it impossible for us to conduct a meeting. The way I assessed the situation, I have discovered that the task force is not as clean as it seems. Every one of them (task force members) has a hidden agenda and influence the community not to accept the lay-out. Some of them have illegally acquired land. Some illegally sold the land while others are squatters,' he said.

In response, councillor Mokgalajwe said that even if a different task force is chosen from Morope residents, it will never be accepted as everyone in the ward has a personal interest in the land issue. He said that it was not true that the task force members were involved in any illegal acts. He said all the task force members are clean.