09 Jan 2022

Member of Parliament for Tati East, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe has called on the Department of Livestock production under the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security to assist small stock farmers to increase their flocks in the district.

Speaking at a briefing session by the North East District leadership in Tatisiding on January 7, Dr Letsholathebe said the number of small stock in the area was small to supply the Middle East and European goat and meat project.

Currently, the national population of small stock in the North East District and Tati West constituencies stood at 64 526 goats and about 7 000 sheep.

The figures formed a small percentage of the total small stock population in the district and provided opportunity for sheep production in the region.

Dr Letsholathebe indicated that such figures were far much below the demand by the Middle East and European markets.

“Government has recently secured a market to supply goat and sheep meat and preparations are underway to ensure that the country market meets the requirements,” he said.

He also indicated that the ISPAAD programme was one other sector under the ministry of agriculture that needed serious attention as government was currently reviewing the programme with the intent to create an efficient and sustainable initiative.

On other issues, Dr Letsholathebe commended civil servants in the North East district for being productive during the year under review despite numerous challenges including acute water shortage, which hit the district last year.

He said at some point, part of the district would go for as many as three weeks without drinking water, but the officers endured.

He therefore advised civil servants in the district to take advantage of the meeting and present their individual issues.

“I am not here to only represent my constituents but everyone who is within the constituency, be it electorates or public servants. So this is the right forum to use to address your challenges,” he added.

However, he said it appeared that civil servants in the district seemed to be having less challenges as compared to other districts and attributed such to team work.

Dr Letsholathebe was also happy that drug availability in the district stood at over 80 per cent, something he said was a welcome development in the health sector.

The district officer (development), Ms Banyaditse Mphela had earlier in her briefing, informed the minister that drug availability in the district stood at 83 per cent.

Ms Mphela explained that most of the drugs were supplied by the Central Medical Stores (CMS) and the district bought from private pharmaceutical companies (micro procurement), when certain drugs were out of stock at CMS.
On COVID-19, she said the district had been experiencing a decline in cases since August last year after a severe third wave that hit the country between June and August.

“As COVID-19 admissions decline, Masunga Hospital that was converted to a treatment centre reverted to admitting general patients,” she said.

She told the minister that in the meantime, monitoring was ongoing with the intention to re-open should cases that needed hospitalisation increase.

Ms Mphela further informed the minister that at the beginning of December last year, the district experienced an increase of cases especially from Ramokgwebana village by registering 35 cases at Ramokgwebana border post, of which 29 were repatriated. “We had 19 cases local transmission in the same period.

This followed the discovery of a new variant, Omicron, which is feared to be more transmissible,” she added.

On vaccination, Ms Mphela said the campaign was going well despite challenges and as of December last year, the district had fully vaccinated 79.8 per cent of its eligible estimated population.

She explained, however, that the main challenge was the low turn-out of the lower age group of 18-30 years as well as people not coming for their second dose despite follow ups and reminders.

The minister was also briefed on staff training, facility management, teenage pregnancy, malnutrition, HIV testing, transport, staff housing, destitution programme social and welfare cases, community development and the community constituency programme, among others.

Earlier on in his welcome remarks, Kgosi Simon Nkgageng of Tati Siding commended the two local primary schools for having done well in the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE). Kgosi Nkgageng said this was commendable looking at the disruption caused by COVID-19.

He cautioned that COVID-19 was still a threat and therefore everyone was required to adhere to health protocols to prevent the spread of the virus.

Kgosi Nkgageng appealed to civil servants to be more productive as well as improve their service delivery this year.  Ends