01 Nov 2020

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Sethabelo Modukanele says the envisaged Nata Rural Administration Centre issue was being discussed at ministerial level.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Nata attended by the village leadership and village development committee members, Mr Modukanele said the issue had been pending for long.  

He pointed out that financial constraints contributed to the delay, noting that efforts had been made to establish a service centre in the meantime.

He highlighted that the ministry’s mandate included bringing services closer to the people and serving them accordingly as per government standards.

Mr Modukanele said it was for that reason that his office was working tirelessly to ensure that despite not having structural development for the RAC, the service centre be fully operational for people to access services at ease.

The assistant minister therefore noted that they had since employed a permanent service centre manager and they would further discuss the issue of bringing additional staff, which would include the office of the district commissioner and other units most needed.

He said having such offices would enable people of Nata/Gweta to be serviced within reach while the government worked on establishing a fully-fledged RAC.

For her part, the VDC chairperson, Ms Dintle Gofhamodimo said they needed a third primary school in the village because enrolments of the two available schools, Nata and Makongwa were high. Nata has 1 000 pupils while Makongwa has 800.

She said the high enrolments might compromise adherence to the COVID-19 health protocols.  

The assistant minister said with the current pandemic situation, government was forced to prioritise on many developments.  

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Justine Ntuane of Nata said their village depended economically on tourism, and with the pandemic, many businesses such as lodges were on the verge of closing down.

Kgosi Ntuane proposed that councils should consider holding their meetings in their villages in order to help sustain their businesses, thereby enabling people to retain their jobs. ENDS