07 Jan 2013

Tsabong Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson, Mr Willipart Gotlop has decried the derelict state of the village's main kgotla. Therefore, he called for its refurbishment as well as construction of a conference centre.

He said this at the annual youth meeting held at the kgotla. Mr Gotlop said the run down kgotla was not representative of the status of the village as the headquarters of the Bakgalagadi.

“Tsabong is seen as the district headquarters of the Kgalagadi region and the administrative and cultural hub of Bakgalagadi people, but the traditional meeting place does not clearly indicate the standard of such honour,” he said.

He said the main kgotla should be the repository of Bakgalagadi cultural items and that it was time the community improved it to suit that status. 

On other matters, Mr Gotlop said important guests often suffered when visiting the village because it did not have proper lodges where guests could be accommodated, hence the need for a conference centre and accommodation.

A conference centre would allow delegates to stage meetings even in inclement weather, he said.

“Even though these are good development ideas, their implementation requires a lot of money. The VDC alone does not have money to implement the ideas,” he said.

Residents welcomed the idea and commended Mr Gotlop for coming up with it. One of them, Mr Moroka Tumaeletse urged the community to raise funds for the projects.

The attendees agreed to establish two committees which were mandated with spearheading the fund raising exercise. ENDS