15 Nov 2020

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development is steadfast on transforming local authorities and improving their functionality.

Debating the State-of-the-Nation address, Specially Elected MP, also the assistant minister Mr Kgotla Autlwetse said resources were being invested to capacitate local authorities to ensure that they were financially independent.

He said it was imperative for local authorities to be capacitated on the ability to generate their own income for self-sustenance and be less dependent on government revenue support grant.

He said it was evident that collection of own revenue was a critical determinant of the financial viability of local authorities’  as fiscal transfers might not be sustainable over time, adding that the amount collected  from their own sources was an indication of financial independence.

Mr Autlwetse denounced lack of revenue collection by some local authorities hence pleaded with authorities to improve on their property rates, service charges and other levy collection schemes.

Adequate revenue collection, he said would play an important role in determining local government’s ability to deliver timely services to their communities.

He said local authorities should be mindful of the obligation to collect their own income, and this had however, not  been possible in many cases due to various factors, such as the poor income base of that constituency and non-payment of services by residents.

Further, Mr Autlwetse stated that plans to upgrade certain sub-councils to fully fledged councils were at an advanced stage as such proposal was awaiting cabinet approval.

Mr Autlwetse admitted that the vastness of some district councils hampered quality service delivery hence the need to upgrade some sub-councils.  He, however, highlighted that the upgrading exercise would be determined by the availability of funds as it would require staff restructuring and fully resourcing.

In his contribution to the debate, the Mogoditsane MP Mr Tumiso Rakgare commended government for continuously implementing initiatives and programmes geared towards empowering young people.

Minister Rakgare said the Youth Development Fund (YDF) was one of the youth empowerment schemes that continued to bring in positive results.

He said since the inception of the programme, a lot of youth lives had been transformed positively, noting that most of the youth continued to show interest in the programme and had come up with valid business projects.

Mr Rakgare, who is also the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Cultural Development decried shortage health facilities in his constituency, saying it was disappointing that his constituency with a population of over 57 000 was served by two health facilities in particular Mogoditshane and Nko ya Phiri clinics.

For his part, Francistown West MP, Mr Ignatius Moswaane called on government to revive the poverty eradication programme as it had the potential to uplift Batswana.

He highlighted that improvement of welfare and living conditions for all Batswana should be a priority, and called on government to revisit all programmes that were intended to empower Batswana.

Mr Moswaane expressed skepticism towards government’s efforts to root out corruption in the country, highlighting that fighting corruption was fundamental to attaining good governance and sustainable development.

He thus said government needed to empower anti-corruption oversights institutions in an effort to ensure that corruption was effectively addressed. ENDS