02 May 2022

South East District political and administrative leadership have been urged to establish teamwork and good working relations in order to transform the district.

Leaders shouldn’t be stumbling blocks to development and service delivery, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Mabuse Pule said during a familiarisation tour Friday.

He said warm relations between the two was key in developing the district. 

The purpose of Mr Pule’s visit was to familiarise himself with council operations, meet and greet leadership and appreciate achievements and challenges in the district.

He reminded the meeting that the ministry and local authorities were a second tier of government mandated with bringing developments and services to the people in the districts, which he said resonated well with the ministry’s tagline; Batho Pele.

He appreciated challenges facing the council such as dwindling financial grant from the ministry, saying it was a national challenge as government had to respond to emerging challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The assistant minister encouraged the district leadership to introspect and do more with less.

He urged them to implement President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Reset Agenda of mind set change, rethink, replan, using new ways as well as the ministry’s transformational plan.

For his part, South East District Council secretary, Mr Charles Amos highlighted service delivery issues and challenges faced by the district.

Mr Amos emphasised the need for the administrative and political leadership to collaborate.

He said the South East Sub- district community were yearning to have their area renamed Gamalete sub-district.

The council secretary said the maintenance of roads remained a challenge due to budgetary constraints.

He said over the years the council’s recurrent budget had not been able to cater for maintenance of road infrastructure, electrical installations as well as payment of utilities.

Mr Amos said the council had been allocated funds amounting to P5 million, which had been split equally between its sub-districts.

He said to address roads maintenance problem, the council needed over P59 million to maintain its road network.

Mr Amos said lack of funds and requisite manpower continued to hamper service delivery, adding that the district continued to provide services with the meagre resources, exploring various measures to ensure the council remained relevant in its service delivery endeavours. ENDS