16 Feb 2020

Parliament has rejected a motion requesting government to increase the number of paid Village Development Committee (VDC) meetings from one to three per month.

Rejecting the motion which was presented by Selebi Phikwe East MP, Mr Kgoberego Nkawana, Vice President Mr Slumber Tsogwane said while he acknowledged the need to increase allowances for VDC members, it was currently impossible due to budgetary constraints.

Mr Tsogwane, who is also Boteti East MP, said there were many community organisations which would also want their allowances to be increased.

He further said VDC members were volunteering, adding that it was wrong to suggest that they were lingering in poverty, as some were retired officers while others had used government programmes to elevate their lives.

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse was also against the motion, saying it would increase government budget from P35 million to P105 million.

He further said increasing the number of meetings may be too frequent as some had other commitments and responsibilities, adding that there was a provision for one paid special meeting per month.

Another MP who spoke against the motion was Mr Tumiso Rakgare of Mogoditshane who said government was already faced with the high recurrent budget.

Presenting the motion, MP Nkawana said the role of VDCs and Ward Development Committees (WDCs) was important as they were basically the local parliament for their communities, hence they had a lot of work in their hands.

In addition to supervising development projects in their communities, he said they had to prepare for kgotla meetings for MPs, ministers and the President, and that it had to be done in a meeting.

MP Nkawana said VDC members were only paid P375 for their meeting while legislators got P450 per day as sitting allowance for attending Parliament session.

However, Selebi Phikwe West MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse had supported the motion, saying from a study undertaken in Ngamiland in 2008, there was a consensus that VDC members should be salaried.

Another MP who supported the motion was Sefhare-Ramokgonami MP, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang, who said VDC members had during kgotla meetings called for a review of their allowances, adding that they worked almost full-time as they were forever present in their kgotlas.

He said VDC members were tasked with employing Ipelegeng members as well as supervising their projects. He added that they were also tasked with the constituency development fund.

MP Motsamai Motsamai of Ghanzi South said the money would enable VDC members to improve their livelihoods. ends