17 Nov 2021

There is need for  the establishment of a Small Medium and Micro Enterprises development (SMMEs) relief fund to assist struggling small entrepreneurs.

This was said by Mahalapye West MP, Mr David Tshere when debating the State-of- the -Nation Address of Tuesday.

He said although he was in support of government’s SMME decried the bottlenecks that hindered the growth of SMMEs, specifically those who were into cross border trading.

Regarding issues pertaining to his constituency, Mr Tshere commended his constituents for demonstrating the spirit of self-reliance during the construction of the Mahalapye Bus Rank.

He attributed the completion of the bus rank to the relentless efforts of the community as the P10 million constituency funding proved not enough to complete the project.

Mr Tshere also pleaded with government to consider funding the construction of the Mahalapye storm water drainage as the village was prone to flooding during the rainy season.

He said the National Development Plan 12 needed to cater for some development projects in his constituency, citing the construction of a fire station as one of the top priorities since the village was currently serviced by the Mochudi Fire Station.

The NDP 12, he said, must also include the construction of the Mahalapye mini stadia. He said a plot for the stadium has been reserved in the Mahalapye Development plan

Concerning SONA, Mr Tshere said President Mokgweetsi Masisi  speech lacked substance because it didi not include statistical data analysis.

Mr Tshere made reference to President Masisi’s speech on the country’s achievements in enhancing the effectiveness of existing programmes for HIV prevention and the tangible results attained in HIV treatment and reduction in AIDS related deaths as well as mother-to-child HIV transmission.

He said the strides made in fighting HIV could have been more meaningful if they were supported by statistical reference and figures.

The provision of statistics, he said, would enable the public to make comparisons and measure the progress made on key aspects of human interest.

“President Dr Masisi should have given an in-depth analysis of the success behind fighting the spread of both COVID-19 and HIV, and validated the success story with statistics to further create an enlightening account of the country’s attainment in fighting both pandemics,” said Mr Tshere.

Mr Tshere said government’s efforts to fast-track gender mainstreaming in all sectors of the economy were not successful.

He said women empowerment should not be an issue and that it was in line with the opposition parties advocacy on women.

He also said government delayed to appoint women to positions of power saying it was embarrassing that government was taking pride in appointing women for the first time while other countries had long appointed women to high positions. ENDS