07 Dec 2021

The Southern District Council is reportedly among the best in servicing youth development fund (YDF) loans.

Speaking during a virtual full council session on Monday, the Southern district council’s chairperson, Mr Thamiso Chabalala said they had so far collected about  P211 000 against the targeted P245 614 for the second quarter, which translated to 86 per cent in collection. 

This, according to Mr Chabalala was commendable as it contributed significantly to availability of funding for other aspiring entrepreneurs.   

Mr Chabalala said youth projects should grow and be competitive in the market,  to contribute to the economic development of their communities.

He said the government’s intention for coming up with various empowerment programmes was to create a build-up effect, where one programme would feed on the other to facilitate growth.

He said if the beneficiaries are unable to organise themselves for a positive outlook, it was the responsibility of the district technocrats to engage their collective intelligence to assist them to do so.  

“I am saying this with a conscious mind and understanding that the list of projects, which we have in the district and their interdependence, is facilitative enough for these businesses to trade among themselves in a value addition arrangement,” he said.

The council chairperson said the district’s community projects were also doing  well at their infancy stage, with some still at conception or construction stages, while others had been handed over to the communities.  

Mr Chabalala acknowledged the unique challenges of community projects, but said if developed and articulated with the communities at the forefront, the possibility of success was guaranteed.

He appreciated that the district was progressing well with Phase III of the development of Kanaku Farm, which entails construction of farm houses and water reticulation system, adding construction of the LA2 house and the ablution block, at a cost of P358 791 and P118 453 respectively, were almost complete.

He said the processes for the two-roomed houses for herdsmen were being finalised, while the drilling of the borehole will commence in earnest after the resolution of the pending request from the identified contractor.  

He noted that the district had already submitted a proposal of P5.7 million in the form of a project memorandum, to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for Phase IV of the project, which would include amongst others, the completion and operationalisation of the farm, stocking, recruitment and training of staff.

He said the district employees were working closely with the Kanaku community to establish a special purpose vehicle to run the farm and the development of the constitution for the facility.   

Mr Chabalala said the district administration had started implementing critical milestones in the implementation of the Presidential Directive CAB 21/15 in which southern district was allocated a 4,314-hectare portion 1/1 JN of the Banyana Farm.

He said the farm was for the economic empowerment of the communities of Mabule, Sekhutlane and Lorolwane, adding that the project was stalled because of a few challenges among others; ownership claims by the Mabule leadership and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want however to assure you that notwithstanding the unforeseen circumstances, we are well positioned to report marked progress by March 2022,” he said.

He said the district also had an arable farm at Kutuku, as the council intends to diversify to cover horticultural and poultry activities, among others.

Mr Chabalala said they planned to engage with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for further funding, with a view to expand the project operations into a more viable and attractive business entity.

The project, he said, had existing developments, a drilled borehole, which is currently awaiting water testing, after which connection and reticulation will be done.

He said the district was also generally well endowed with unexplored and unexploited skills, indigenous knowledge and natural resources that needed to be harnessed for the benefit of communities, citing Kanye as having among others surface water, minerals and fertile soils.

Mr Chabalala said Mmakgodumo dam that holds water on a perennial basis, provides a useful resource that was currently used for both social and economic purposes, while Mmamokhasi dam had facilitated the establishment of Mmamokhasi horticultural project.

He said the Community Based Natural Resource Management programme, which offers local communities the opportunity to participate in tourism development and natural resource conservation, was there for the taking and exploitation as an empowerment initiative.

The council chairperson lamented that the district administration did not accord the communities enough support and encourage them to leverage on these opportunities. ends