21 Feb 2017

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso says the distribution of resources within local authorities, especially for pupils stationed in primary schools, is not equal.

Ms Tshireletso said in the current financial year the cost of stationery per pupil is P120 for Boteti, Kgatleng and Central District (for Serowe Administration authority).

She further said the City of Francistown gets P222 and that Kgatleng District is at P150 per pupil.

Ms Tshireletso explained that in terms of standards, each pupil should be budgeted for at P450 for stationary annually, saying the disparity was caused by budgetary constraints experienced by local authorities.

She said to address the problem, the ministry discussed the matter at the 2016 project review exercise with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, and that it was agreed that each pupil would be budgeted P450.

She further said to this end, funding has been proposed for the 2017/18 financial year to address the disparities and that all councils have been informed.

Meanwhile, Ms Tshireletso pointed out that the Administrative Boundaries Act (Cap 03:02) vests the power to establish districts with the President.

She said the act defines the boundaries of existing districts as they were today.

She said the proposal to upgrade sub-districts to fully fledged districts first surfaced during the second Presidential Commission on the Local Government Structure of 2001.

She said the proposal was premised on the potential of enhancing service delivery by upgrading sub-districts to fully fledged districts.

She pointed out that the proposal was rejected by the commission on the basis that the size of the district alone has no direct impact on service delivery, but that the internal organisation of the district, capacity of staff and degree of delegation appear to have a more direct impact on service delivery.

Ms Tshireletso further said the challenge of inadequate resources could not be addressed by creating more districts, saying such a decision would place even more pressure on the already limited resources.

The MP for Boteti East, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe had wanted to know if it was true that the distribution of resources within local authorities was not equal, especially for pupils in primary schools.

He also wanted to know, if that was the case, what was the cost per stationery per a pupil in Boteti, Tonota Sub-districts, the cost at the City of Framcistown as well as Kgatleng and the Central District.

He further wanted to know the reasons for the disparities.

He also asked the minister whether it was not time to declare all sub-districts full districts.BOPA