30 May 2022

Mmathubudukwane residents have welcomed the planned electrification of their village via a substation that is currently under construction in Mochudi.

The residents learnt about this during a recent kgotla meeting addressed by Mochudi East MP, Mr Mabuse Pule.

Botswana Power Corporation Senior Customer Relations Officer Ms Warona Keobiditse explained the substation, which was currently 65 per cent complete, would connect the  Madikwe River villages namely being Mabalane, Sikwane, Mmathubudukwane,

Ramonaka, Malolwane, Oliphant’s Drift and Ramotlabaki to the national power grid. Residents had earlier complained that they were severely affected by power custs effected by South Africa’s Eskom from which their supply came.

They said that they were not notified on time every time there was load shedding in South Africa, with the result that small businesses, such as those dealing in poultry and perishables, were severely affected.

Village Development Committee Chairperson, Mr Anthony Rasetshwane appealed to council authorities to come up with a solution to situations where some residents ‘double-dipped’.

These, he said worked for Ipelegeng, but still got their pension and other social safety net allowances, thereby disadvantaging others.

He also asked for increased quota of Ipelegeng employees from the current 55, saying most residents depended on the programme for sustenance.

Meanwhile, when briefing them about the guidelines of the improved ISPAADD, Mr Pule said it was intended to improve food security, adding that officials from the Ministry of Agriculture would duly inform them about it so that they could partake.

He informed them that Mmathubudukwane was earmarked to be a collection centre of agricultural produce, hence they should start preparing for commercial farming because they would have somewhere to deposit their produce.

“The new import ban on vegetables should be a wakeup call for us to produce food for ourselves,” he said.

Kgosi Michaela Balebetse asked for a backup generator at the local clinic and cautioned residents against dumping litter in the streets. BOPA