13 Sep 2017

Dikgosi have been advised to respect, value their work and implement it effectively to meet the public expectations.

Kgosi Oleyo Ledimo from Batawana Tribal Authority pleaded with some headmen of arbitration during a meeting in Maun, noting that the pubic has been complaining about poor service delivery by some dikgosi.

He said the public decried absenteeism of some traditional leaders at kgotlas, while some were seen at drinking spots during working hours, hence delay in conducting cases.

“As community custodian, we should value our work and do it without failure. We should lead by example and refrain from things which would lower the dignity of bogosi,” he added.

Kgosi Ledimo observed that the role of bogosi was significant in every society, hence the need to value it and ensure it was respected, adding that issues forwarded by the public was disturbing and demeaning to the dignity of bogosi.

Therefore, he encouraged traditional leaders that for them to be taken seriously and for communities to respect them, they should refrain from such practices which tarnished the image of bogosi.

He mentioned some duties of dikgosi amongst others such as delivery of justice at customary courts, promotion of unity and moral integrity in their respective communities as well as promotion of culture.

He said although some dikgosi were doing their best to serve the public, there were some who were still dragging their feet to take their work seriously. He said some dikgosi have volunteered to go an extra mile by working beyond their stipulated times, citing some headmen of arbitration who assisted at the main kgotla on daily basis instead of the two days as required.

Kgosi Ledimo who is also a member of Ntlo ya Dikgosi said dikgosi should be actively involved in the affairs of their communities.

On other issues, he briefed the meeting about some issues discussed at Ntlo ya Dikgosi such as increased salaries for  dikgosi, introduction of advice slips for headmen of arbitration who were given allowance and child trafficking amongst others.

He explained that statistics had indicated that incidents of child trafficking in the country were escalating and worrisome, adding that children were taken to some countries on the pretext that they would be employed.

He said there was evidence that when the traveling processes were undertaken, some dikgosi we involved in certifying some documents and advised dikgosi to put more attention on issues that affected children.

For their part, some dikgosi expressed frustration about lack of resources such as stamps in their work station, noting that most of the time they referred customers to the main kgotla. Despite lack of resources, they noted that efforts were made to serve the customers efficiently and effectively.

Kgosi Kegaisamang Ramokwena of Boseja kgotla said it was unfortunate as some supervisors did not appreciate their efforts while some did.

He said they kept records for evidence on what they did on daily basis.

With regard to the issue of salary advice slips, they said the issue had dragged for a long time and wished the relevant authority could hasten to address the issue as lack of advice slips denied them opportunities to benefit from other services.

They said they were catered for in government budget and questioned why they were not given advice slips just like other dikgosi who were employed permanently as their job descriptions were the same.Ends