15 May 2019

Kgosi Motsamai Kgosi of Kutamogoree in the Tutume Sub-district has apealed to public officers to come and sensitise villagers on services they render.

Briefing the Member of Parliament, Mr Polson Majaga during a kgotla meeting on May 13, Kgosi Kgosi said there were some units in the council such as Social and Community Development, which need to come and sensitise the community on their processes as they deal with them frequently.

He noted that because of lack of knowledge of the processes, some residents were offended when their requests to be included in government programmes such as the food basket were declined, adding that some believed the social worker was not doing a proper job or did not understand her mandate.

Furthermore, he said lack of understanding of the assessment processes sometimes resulted in divisions among the community and therefore appealed to the officers to hold an open day.

For his part, the village development committee (VDC) chairperson, Mr Zibanani Badi complained that the sub-district was not servicing the villagers  well, as sitting allowances for the VDC and Ipelegeng payments were always delayed, with no update given regarding such.

He said eventhough the financial year has just started, the leadership should realise the importance of communication.

Mr Badi nonetheless appreciated the 21 destitute houses that had been built in the village over the years, adding however that builders in the village were crying foul over the arrangement by the council not to given them money for materials.

He said council made arrangement with hardware stores, which did not sit well with builders because they ended up not making gains from the works because often the hardware stores hiked prices.

In response, Mr Majaga said certain issues could easily be addressed by taking services to the people, but said he would take up the issues with council leadership.

On other issues, he implored residents to avoid veldt fires, noting that 2019 was a drought year, though it had not been officially declared such.

He advised farmers to cull their livestock and use the money to feed those remaining. ENDS