16 Oct 2016

Ntlo Ya Dikgosi has passed a motion that requests government to embark on capacitating Dikgosi who preside over cases with relevant training as well as their staff in order to improve service delivery.
The motion was tabled by Kgosi Galeakanye Modise of Tswapong region who said there were instances where some cases were mishandled by his counterparts due to lack of understanding of common law.
He said it was disheartening that some Dikgosi who do not have a background of basic law were in the dark and end up giving inappropriate sentences especially when presiding over difficult cases.
“I am not saying that some people have wrongly been imprisoned, but I am stressing that foundation of law is important to improve service delivery,” he said.
He said most Dikgosi were unable to differentiate between common law and customary law and needed induction to effectively carry out their duties.
He further said tribal administrators were not incapacitated enough to advice, hence cases were sometimes mishandled.
When debating the motion, Kgosi David Toto II of Kgalagadi South said they have long asked for a capacity building programme, but the response had not yielded much.
Kgosi Kgomotso Boiditswe of Serowe region said even though it was difficult, they should be capacitated with basic understanding of law.
Some Dikgosi said the training was important because it would ease the backlog of cases that end up at the customary court of appeal, due to unfair judgments from lower customary courts.
Dikgosi said initially when there were local police officers at Dikgotla, they were correctly advised to give fair judgments.
Meanwhile the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said she appreciated the motion, but highlighted that the capacitation process was ongoing.
She said training has already started for Dikgosi in the North West region at Public Service College, adding that training would be extended to Dikgosi in other regions.
She said the motion was brought to the House before by Kgosi Maruje III Masunga and afterwards a sub-committee was set which continued to work on the programme to capacitate Dikgosi. ENDS