19 Jan 2016

The Member of Parliament for Takatokwane, Mr Ngaka Ngaka says issues that affect villages such as slow implementation of development projects and government programmes are better addressed away from the prying eye of the public.

It is upon this realisation that the MP took the decision to go around his constituency addressing village committees that drive project implementation.

Speaking at his meeting with various village committees in Sorilatholo on Monday, Mr Ngaka said such meetings also give the leadership a chance to assess, give advice and guide before they face residents in kgotla meetings.

He said there were concerns at kgotla meetings about issues such as slow assessment of the needy by social workers as well as poor academic results in schools, and said such issues were better appreciated by the leadership in isolation from the public.

He stressed the importance of all village committees to be operational and advised that those that were dormant should be resuscitated.

Mr Ngaka also urged village committee members to be exemplary as they were part of the village leadership.

A member of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Mr Ramonwana Badiseng complained about lack of interest by parents in the education of their children, saying the issue has been a concern to both the committee and the school management as it affects the performance of pupils, especially in Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE).

He said after school pupils were the responsibility of parents, and that lack of involvement by parents raises questions of whether they ever assist them with assignments.

He said lack of participation was the reason the school never produces a high pass mark in the PSLE.

The MP was also informed that during the last PSLE the school only managed a paltry 27 per cent pass, coming at position 23 out of the 25 schools in its inspectoral area.

The school management said for the problem to be better addressed, they have realised that pupils have to be drilled from as far as Standard Five.

Shortage of staff has also been cited as one of the reasons for poor performance as teachers transferred to the village were often reluctant to take the posts because of its rural status.

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Olebetse Phemelo informed the MP that when he assumed his duties last year, he noticed that not all villages committees were active, and that it has been one of his objectives to resuscitate them.

He said this was on the realisation that their existence could make village management smoother.

Kgosi Phemelo also pleaded with the MP to advocate for the gravelling of roads that connect his village to neighbouring ones such as Khudumelapye, Salajwe and Kaudwane.

Kgosi Phemelo also noted that there were six wards in his village whose headmen of arbitration do not get an allowance. BOPA