31 Jul 2018

Civil servants have been encouraged to have input in improving government systems and procedures put in place to render services to civil society.

In a meeting with heads of departments in Selebi Phikwe recently, the Minister for Presidential Affairs Governance and Public Administration Mr Nonofo Molefhi said their contribution and ideas would assist government in handling the socio-economic challenges Selebi Phikwe was experiencing after the closure of BCL Mine.

Mr Molefhi who is also Member of Parliament for Selebi Phikwe East said the closure of BCL Mine resulted in job losses which had a negative impact on many families and the business sector.

“It also resulted in an increase of people under the Social and Community Development office care,” he said.

In this regard, he said government which was the main service provider had to find better ways to handle the situation.

Mr Molefhi also called on government entities to work together and share resources when rendering services to the public.

He noted that government was introspecting on whether some services in the civil service should be centralised or decentralised to improve service delivery.

He added that government intended to deal with bottlenecks that delayed the provision of services.

Mr Molefhi therefore called on civil servants to familiarise themselves with the Vision 2036 document.

“The document serves as a guide in taking the country to another level,” he said.

The minister also paid a courtesy call on SPEDU where he was given an update on progress made regarding projects planned for the area.

He also shared ideas on the potential some projects had in contributing to the diversification and resuscitation of the Selebi Phikwe and SPEDU region.

He said besides projects in manufacturing and tourism among others, agriculture had a big potential to boost the economy of the region.

He advised SPEDU to speed up the facilitation of implementation of projects earmarked for Selebi Phikwe and the region as the public was eager to see tangible results.

Dr Mokubung Mokubung who is the chief executive officer of SPEDU indicated that some projects were in progress in the region.

He said the electrification of farms along the Motloutse River was complete and had boosted farming in the area and production had improved.

He said projects earmarked such as the establishment of aircraft manufacturing plant and its associated business projects such as a piloting school and tourism facilities were still in the pipeline.

Others in the pipeline include the tourism project at Letsibogo Dam, pharmaceutical plant in Selebi Phikwe, cellphone and laptop assembly plants.

He also indicated that Selebi Phikwe area required at least P34 million for servicing of land to speed up the setting up of business investment projects. ENDS