22 Dec 2014

A hotelier in Kanye, Ms Pelotshweu Makole of Savanna Lodge, says doing business in Kanye is not easy.

Ms Makole formed part of panelists that deliberated during a business session whose theme was; Unlocking Business Opportunities in Kanye recently.

Sharing her experiences, Ms Makole said, among other things, disjointed businesses due to poor 
networking, lack of trust among businesses, poor business acumen by both the proprietors and employees alike as part of a myriad of bad business practices why it was difficult for businesses to break-even in Kanye.

Ms Makole called on government to re-engineer some of procurement processes particularly awarding businesses to the cheapest bidder without considering individual business costs.

“The practice does a lot of injustice to business with huge overheads because only price and not quality of service is considered,” she said.

She was also not happy with some of the red tapes within the government machinery and inconvenient practices where some officers who are supposed to provide a service seem not to know what they are supposed to be doing.

The same she said obtains for the banking services in Kanye citing instances where one can be denied assistance just because they fail to produce Omang in spite having a driver’s license which has Omang number on it.

For his part, Councilor for Marapalalo ward, Mr Kabelo Lemme said it was the responsibility of the council to create a conducive environment for business to thrive whose snowballing effect he said was job creation and improved livelihoods.

“Let us continue to drill people on proper business acumen,” he said adding that Kanye scenic beauty and historic places of interest give an impetus to become a business hub. 

Former Southern District Council chairman, Mr Leach Tlhomelang who was among the panelists said the district’s political leadership had shown its commitment to live up to the theme; “Unlocking Business Opportunities in Kanye” over the years.

He cited Mongala mall as a true demonstration of the council commitment to unlock business opportunities which has culminated in the creation of employment and provision of services to the community.

Mr Tlhomelang said it was up to the council to either lose out on such an opportunity as was the case in the past or take a deliberate decision to set up the mall and enjoy proceeds from such an arrangement necessary to facilitate developments in the area.

“We simply provided land nothing else. To us it was a good business move,” he said adding that besides benefiting from monthly rentals, the mall would be reverted back to the tribe after 45 years.

Mr Tlhomelang also stated he was looking forward to a time when councils would be autonomous and decide on the projects they deem important.

The District Principal Economic Planner, Mr Losika Mosarwa said the deliberations were an eye opener and would go a long way in informing the district development plan eight currently underway.

He concurred with other speakers that Kanye has all it takes to become the district business hub. Mr Mosarwa decried failure by businesses in Kanye to tap into business opportunities presented by the Trans-Kalahari highway.

He acknowledged that lack of sewerage lines, fire-fighting facility and many others have the potential to scare away investors.

Mr Mosarwa also promised that the council would be re-engineering some of the processes to do away with red tapes and thereby facilitate a conducive environment to unlock business opportunities in Kanye. ENDS