28 Jun 2018

Kgosi Mmoloki Tshabisa of Lepashe in the Nata/Gweta constituency has called for the rival of the spirit of self-reliance.

Kgosi Tshabisa said in an interview that rather than expecting government to provide for everything, people should think of doing for themselves.

He said although residents of Lepashe had been classified as Rural Area Dwellers (RADs) that should not be an excuse for them to expect to be spoon-fed, adding that it was upon them to utilise government programmes to uplift their lives.

Kgosi Tshabisa said both the youth and adults fight for the limited Ipelegeng quota while there were other programmes.

Although, Ipelegeng is the main source of income in the village, he said people should explore other avenues.  

He said the available businesses in the village were run by Batswana from other areas while locals were onlookers.

Kgosi Tshabisa advices locals to think outside the box and come up business ideas.

On another issue, he said through the support of stakeholders the village choir had been doing well at the Presidential Art Competitions.

Over the years the choir has been excelling at regional competition and national ones.

The choir was chosen to sing at the farewell ceremony of the former President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama

He noted that such should be an inspiration to other groups in the village.

“I am for the believe that if we can do it ourselves even the outsiders will take note of us and find means of helping us build on what we have done for ourselves,” he said.

With regard to development in the village, he appreciated that the Presidential Housing Appeal initiative and the programme for destitute housing had helped in changing the appearance of the village.

He said the two initiatives had also encouraged others that were not beneficiaries to build modern houses.

Kgosi Tshabisa said building such houses would also reduce cases of disasters during raining season as the village was prone to floods.

He said they had made a request to the council that through the constituency fund, a bridge be built across the river to access services at Tutume.

Kgosi Tshabisa appreciated the fact that crime in the village was minimal, but is worried by the high number of stray cattle in the area that could attract criminals.

He also noted that alcohol and drug abuse had been reduced, thanks to the cluster policing committee and stiff liquor regulation laws.

“For a while now we have never had cases of assaults or the use of vulgar languages at shebeens,” he said.

Adding on to Kgosi Tshabisa sentiments, Village Development Committee chairperson Mr Oamogetswe Keikotetse said despite being far away from services their primary school was doing well, outclassing some schools in semi-urban areas.

Throughout the years, Mr Keikotetse stated that the school was among the top five of 43 schools in the Tutume Sub-district.

Mr Keikotetse however expressed concern about the poor performance of students when they get to secondary schools.

He nonetheless said even though there were limited opportunities in the village that young people could pursue to earn a living, they should still apply for government programmes. ENDS