20 Sep 2017

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen says it is difficult and costly for government to provide services to ungazetted settlements.

 Addressing North West District councillors, Mr Van Der Westhuizen said this in response to concern raised by councillor Luke Motlaleselelo of Bojanala Ward about inaccessible services in his ward, which lies in the Okavango Delta and covers ungazetted settlements situated in state land.

The assistant minister also explained that they could not provide services because the ward was sparsely populated.

He also noted that the national settlement policy stipulated factors that should be considered when a settlement was gazetted. He said they included population size, economic potential and availability of natural resources, especially water to sustain the settlement growth.

Mr Van Der Westhuizen also explained that services could only be provided to gazetted settlements as per the district plan because the budget had to be considered.

In an interview, Cllr Motlaleselelo complained that communities were denied opportunities to benefit from government initiatives such as Ipelegeng and the poverty eradication programme which were meant to help communities escape poverty.

He said priority was given to gazetted settlements in disseminating information on government programmes. 

Cllr Motlaleselelo said it would seem he was failing his electorates. “I was not impressed with the assistant minister’s answer because I hoped he would advise the council leadership on how best my communities could be assisted.” 

For his part, council secretary, Mr Charles Amos concurred with the minister that Bojanala Ward was situated in state land, and that no plots were allocation which made it difficult to provide services.

He said communities were informed about government initiatives and advised to relocate to recognised areas in order to benefit.

He added that efforts were being made to assist communities through mobile services, noting that other government programmes such as Ipelegeng were extended to settlements under Bojanala Ward.

Meanwhile, Mr Van Der Westhuizen reminded councillors to take the minister’s vision and priorities as a guide towards the plan and strategy. He said the vision included empowering districts, improving the visibility of the ministry in districts, improving rural livelihoods, especially remote area communities and taking services to the people.

He said councils were encouraged to adhere to all priorities as they were linked to the national priorities or pledge card. Councillors were also urged to be accountable and to own up to their responsibilities and failures as well as to acknowledge that they could improve their level of performance. ENDS