01 Mar 2015

The South East District Council (SEDC) will begin to clamp down on illegal advertisers in its jurisdiction. 

The council chairperson, Mr Phenyo Segokgo said this during the opening of the full council session recently. Mr Segokgo said the district jurisdiction, which covered Ramotswa, Tlokweng and Kgale area had for a long time being overwhelmed by illegal advertisements.

“I have observed that there are so many advertisements around the district and many of them are haphazardly placed posing danger to pedestrians and automobiles,” he said.

Mr Segokgo noted that many advertisements in the district were illegal, despite the council having approved guidelines on advertisement and hoarding. He regretted that those who contravened the established instruments do so, despite that the documents were there to provide for orderly developments in terms of advertising.

Furthermore, he said the documents also allowed the council to collect revenue and augment its revenue support grant from government. Hence, he noted that by the beginning of March this year, the council would explore ways to tidy the area and ensure that legal advertisement yield income for the council.

Nonetheless, Mr Segokgo noted that the SEDC had a comparative advantage over most councils due to its proximity to Gaborone. Therefore, he said trickle down effects emanating from developments in the city either positively or negatively affect the district. He said one of the ways in which the council could benefit and increase its revenue base was through the implementation of the property rate tax.

“It should be realised that tax is purely a legally based commodity which requires explicit compliance with the existing laws,” he added.

However, he cautioned councillors that enforcement of various laws in the district would not necessarily be smooth sailing. On other issues, Mr Segokgo called on fellow councillors to think beyond and come up with initiatives of making money for the council.

He said one of those initiatives would be thinking along the public private partnership initiatives and added that the district had a number of areas readily identifiable to suite the model. The council chairperson noted that development of the Magope Recreational Park has been earmarked for development through the model. Further, he said the council was at an advanced stage of constructing a bus and taxi rank in Tlokweng, but noted that there was need to expedite the efforts.

He said Ramotswa stadium has been dragging for some time and added that the council would consult further for the purpose of finding a most beneficial project in the earmarked area. Meanwhile, the chairperson noted that the SEDC approved budget for the 2015/16 financial year was P124 million as revenue support grant while the council will add over P9 million from its own revenue.  ENDS