26 Aug 2015

Rural community mobilization has been hailed as an important aspect in uplifting and supporting rural community businesses.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the the Optic Fibre Cables Project event in Werda recently, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and also MP for Kgalagadi South, Frans van der Westhuizen expressed concern of lack of rural community involvement in such events.

Minister Van der Westhuizen explained that it is disheartening to see event organisers outsourcing labour from areas as far as Gaborone whilst there are capable people in the Kgalagadi area. He noted that organisers of such events should use opportunities such as this one to uplift and help develop rural talents.

“The primary goal should always be to empower the community where an event is being held,” he said.

He noted that lack of community involvement indicates less inclusion of village authorities when organising events and therefore he urged event organisers to improve on that part. “Event organisers should at all times involve local leaders in preparation of local events and execution of the programme and that village leaders are better placed to add value to their events,” he said.

“In almost every area there are entertainment groups and caterers. These are  the people who should be considered before outsourcing from outside their area,”  Van der Westhuizen said the community mobilization will further help open doors for rural talents as they would get more exposed. He added that most talents in rural areas go unnoticed because they are hardly seen and at times do not have the resources to market themselves. Ends