25 Feb 2020

Chobe District Commissioner, Ms Sekgabo Makgosa says it is only the residents of Satau who can determine their chieftainship.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in the village recently, Ms Makgosa advised them to call a meeting to elect the person they wanted to be their kgosi. The incumbent Mr Mpho Moseke’s contract has expired. 

The residents had complained that developments in the village were at a standstill because their chief’s contract had expired and there was no replacement. 

On other issues, Ms Makgosa informed the residents that work to maintain the road to gravel standard is at 15 per cent completion stage, adding that the contractor was currently on site. 

The DC revealed that the gravelling of the 16-kilometre Kachikau, Satau and Parakarungu road was expected to be completed by October. She appealed to the residents to utilise her office to access government policies and programmes, adding that waiting for a kgotla meeting was a waste of time. 

She also informed the residents about the dangers of cohabitation, saying her office was inundated with cases of cohabitation conflicts and appealed to couples to get married.

Ms Makgosa said compared to married couples, cohabiting couples report lower levels of happiness and poorer relationships with parents, among others.

The district commissioner also informed the residents about the launch of the Seperu Intangible Cultural Heritage Day that will be held in their village on March 5 and appealed to them to take advantage of the day to market their talents and businesses.  

Village Development Committee chairperson, Mr Ontiretse Moruakgomo complained about the bad state of the gravel road and requested government to speed up the work. 

Chobe District poverty eradication coordinator, Ms Matshedisio Matlho also appealed to the residents to utilise government policies and programmes to improve their lives.

She explained that currently, there were 51 poverty eradication beneficiaries in the village, with one having passed away. 

Ms Matlho said the programme faced many challenges such as shortage of small stock, with goats being the chief challenge. 

The residents were also informed about the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, which stood at 17.7 per cent of the population. 

DAMSAC coordinator, Ms Mpho Mashila informed the residents that the main challenge is that men are reluctant to enroll in safe male circumcision, while the PMTCT programme was doing well.

Ms Mashila appealed to the residents to cooperate with officials of the Ministry of Health and Wellness during the Botswana HIV/AIDS impact survey, which will be conducted sometime this year. ends