12 Sep 2017

South East District Council chairperson, Mr Phenyo Segokgo has vowed to empower the district’s community and youth.

He said all companies operating in the district would be given priority during the tendering of community development projects emanating from the constituency development fund.

“We are talking local empowerment here, we have to jealously empower our local community,” he told the council session in Ramotswa recently.

Furthermore, he promised that the youth would benefit handsomely from the district economic activities.

Mr Segokgo noted that young people were faced with difficulties in securing jobs, and that deliberate efforts should be taken to empower them.

He said the district would only give tenders to other district based companies if the youth and businesses failed to meet the requirements.

The council chairperson noted that the Tlokweng Sub-council had been reserving all tenders below P100 000 to the local community, adding that the amount should be raised to P500 000.

On other issues, he said the district recently invited companies to express interest with regard to managing advertising space in the district.

He said priority would be given to young district entrepreneurs, and added that the move would also help the district to deal with illegal advertising.

Councillor Segokgo said illegal advertising was a challenge, but noted that the council had resolved to engage the owners of the illegal billboards to find an amicable solution.

Regarding the construction of a mall at Ramotswa Central Business District, Mr Segokgo said four companies had responded to the expression of interest to develop the mall through a public private partnership (PPP) model.

He stated that it was the aim of the council to expedite the process so that the community could benefit from the project.

Upon completion, he said the mall would employ about 3 000 people, adding that Magope Recreational Park would also be constructed through PPP.

On other issues, Mr Segokgo said the office of the district commissioner was organising a retreat for the district local authorities to iron out their differences.

He said although the differences were minor, they needed to come together and speak in one voice on issues affecting the district.

He said their differences did not affect service delivery, adding that they were only concerned that their differences sometimes played out in the public. ENDS