26 Oct 2017

Ramotswa based councillors have been criticised for failing to attend kgotla meetings addressed by the area Member of Parliament, Mr Samuel Rantauna.

Such criticism was conveyed by the tribe during a kgotla meeting by the MP at Ramotswa main Kgotla on October 24.

A village elder, Mr Effy Kereng said the councillors have a habit of not attending the meetings addressed by the MP, something he said was a concern as there were always issues affecting the councillors.

In a well-attended meeting, Mr Kereng said the MP was not the sole representative in the constituency as councillors’ habit could be employing that they were not working together for the tribe.

In response, Mr Rantuana said it was not the first time that the issue of none-attendance had surfaced during kgotla meetings he addressed.

He said some councillors have in the past reasoned that they would be attending scheduled council committee meetings.

However, the MP promised to engage with the councillors to alert them that their input was needed during kgotla meetings.

On other issues, MP Rantuana also faulted Malete Land Board for having a habit of no show at his kgotla meeting, adding that the trend emanated from far.

Mr Rantuana said this was despite that there were always complaints from the community about the services offered by Malete Land Board.

He regretted that his office has many complaints from the Land Board, especially about the new land policy, which was against spouse’s allocated separate plots.

On other issues, the MP pleaded with the community to look after their domestic livestock, which was always roaming the streets in the village.

He said failure to kraal livestock has opened an opportunity for thieves to take advantage of the laxity of farmers and stole them freely.

Mr Rantuana stated that some of the animals end up in South Africa, but that could have been avoided, had the farmers looked after their animals.

He pleaded with farmers to consider livestock keeping as a serious investment as opposed to it being a hobby.

He was commenting on Kgosi Tsimane Mokgosi’s utterance that they were worried about animals which cause havoc in peoples fields.

Balete deputy chief stated that they had unresolved cases of such and pleaded with the tribe to look after their livestock to reduce number of cases and conflicts.

Kgosi Tsimane also regretted that there were still some farmers who had not yet harvested from the previous season, adding that such behaviour could make government think twice about assisting them.

Ramotswa residents also complained about noise from bars and churches, lack of water in some parts of the village and delay in getting Poverty Eradication programme assistance. ENDS