30 Aug 2020

Serowe Administration Authority (SAA) chairperson, Mr Lesedi Phuthego says a larger share of the sub-council budget has been directed towards the COVID-19 fight.

Addressing Serowe Sub-Council session recently, Mr Phuthego said an amount of P15 940 048 had been disbursed towards the COVID-19 fight against an expenditure of P24 386 811.

Mr Puthego said SAA had collected P459 305 as at the end of June, explaining that this was against the target estimate of P1 107 855, translating to 41.46 per cent.

He said as for the expenditure,  an amount of P27 982 599 had been expended as at the end of June, against the budget estimate of P29 831 94.

He, said there was an anticipation of increased expenditure since procurement started after lockdown.

On other issues, Mr Phuthego said for the 2020/2021 financial year, the allocation for new plots had not been done yet as there were no board members and also due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He informed the councillors that at Mogorosi 185 out of 295 plots had been surveyed, but the layout was still disputed as a part of the land fell within the cluster fence.

He, however, said a task team had been set up to address the matter.

Mr Phuthego further said layout for 453 plots at Thabala had been approved while 187 were surveyed residential plots awaiting allocation.

He said Moiyabana, Motshegaletau, Sehunou and Mabuo were consulted for village expansion and base maps picked.

He said base maps within Serowe open spaces were also picked for detailing as required by Serowe Development Plan. “The waiting list for the area stands at 31 662 applications,” he said.

He said as, for the national land registration, the project was still ongoing and adjudication was at 63 per cent completion while plot signage display stood at 28 per cent.

Mr Phuthego further said a lot of people still failed to claim their plots while the communities seemed not to appreciate benefits of land registration.

He noted that the sub-land board received a total of 388 plot transfer requests during the current quarter compared to 354 received last year around this time, adding that such showed an increase in the transfer of land rights.

He said 29 illegal land occupants were being investigated in Serowe at Makolojwane and Marulamantsi wards. Ends