19 Sep 2016

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Slumber Tsogwane has appealed to North West District councillors to discourage the mushrooming of new settlements in their district.

Addressing a full council meeting recently, the minister said the mushrooming of settlements was so disturbing that continuing to recognise some of them was costly because they are usually not budgeted for.

He said allowing new settlements to take root meant that the developments already budgeted for would obviously be affected as the new settlements would also have to be catered for.

However, he said the government would continue to bring services closer to the communities such as through the Rural Area Dwellers Programme which benefits people who live far from established villages and settlements.

On other issues, Mr Tsogwane implored the legislators to join hands with public servants in an effort to drive the ministry’s mandate for the benefit of the people it is meant to serve.

 He said as leaders, they should be seen to be encouraging service delivery and ensuring that public servants met the peoples’ aspirations and expectations.

He said they should monitor and ensure the budget was implemented smoothly and effectively to avoid over expenditure.

“You have to hold officers accountable as at the end of the day you must account to your communities. I have said this to my administrative wing as well,” he added.

Mr Tsogwane also raised a concern that some councils’ committees were not functioning as expected citing the licensing committee .

He said they should understand that their mandate was not to block businesses but rather to ensure that local businesses thrived.

The minister said it was disturbing to note that sometimes business people were punished over small things especially during the assessment of their plans.

“The delay to approve plans or pay contractors is tantamount to stopping initiatives aimed at employment creation to improve the livelihoods of local people,” he said.

The minister also complained about poor record keeping which resulted in some files and documents missing, adding that it frustrated government efforts to assist beneficiaries or customers on time. ENDS