13 Jun 2017

Kweneng District Council has deferred a report on the study of human settlement’s patterns in unrecognised areas after councillors failed to reach a compromise over the decision to relocate Masope settlement to Maboane village.

The decision to defer the matter was reached after councillors debated the Kweneng District Development Committee report on the status of Masope, Kgare and Sebotswane settlements during the just-ended Kweneng full council session.

Debating the report, councillors expressed mixed feelings about the matter hence its deferment.

Some councillors were of the view that the area be incorporated into Maboane so that it could benefit from developments earmarked for the village.

The Kweneng District Development Committee was tasked to study the human settlement patterns in unrecognised areas and advise the full council on provision of services those areas might require.

Supporting the report was councillor for Thamaga North, Mr Palelo Motaosane who said relocating Masope to Maboane would cater for the welfare of children who regularly walked a distance of 18 kilometres to and from Maboane Primary School.

Cllr Motaosane argued that the establishment of Masope settlement with a population of 140 people might impact on children’s education and lead to truancy.

Mr Motaosane was of the view that due to shortage of resources, the government was constantly failing to provide the required services to established settlements .

He further argued that having people relocated to Maboane would be of great advantage to the said community especially children.

Masope area does not qualify to be a standalone settlement as it does not have the required minimum population of 500 people, he added.

Furthermore, he said the area was even less than 15 kilometres from the parent village and hence the need to relocate the people to Maboane to access the already provided services.

The decision to have Masope relocated to Maboane was reached after it was discovered that the area has no permanent water source suitable for human consumption, no infrastructure development and has been zoned and it was likely to cause land use conflicts and predominately for pastoral farming.

If relocated, people of Masope would be moved to a ward to be established at Maboane and be headed by their recently appointed headman of arbitration.

Councillor for Gakuto/Kopong, Mr Mathata Selaledi argued that the area be incorporated into Maboane and be serviced like any other area of the same status.

He said the studying of settlement should be expanded to all deserving areas rather than do the work in ‘piece meals’ as the report only covered three areas.

The other recommendation from the report was that Kgare and Sebotswane be combined into one ward and be incorporated into Ditshegwane village and be known as Kgare ward.

The district is currently targeting to study 12 areas Kgare, Sebotswana, Masope, Shonono, Kolojane, Maseru, Kokonje, Mosime, Magakabe, Kamenakwe, Hubasanoko and Mosekele. ENDS