15 May 2023

Residents of Makalamabedi and Motopi have called for the separation of the Makalamabedi/Motopi polling district to establish two independent polling districts.

During consultation meetings with the Boteti demarcation committee, Makalamabedi representative Mr Tlale Setumo proposed that Makalamabedi should be an independent polling district. He argued that the area was vast and that the distance between the two incapacitated the councillor to deliver on his mandate.

He said the councillor incurred huge expenses due to the 32 kilometre distance between the two villages. He also said they accessed fuel in Maun which was 80 kilometres away.

Mr Setumo also said having one councilor for two villages hindered progress and that it also led to rifts between residents of the two villages as they competed for resources and services.

He said the 2021 population census results should not be considered because the numbers were too low. He also said polling stations which were closed should be re-opened, citing the Tshaatshamo and Ramothupe polling stations, saying the populations of the two polling stations had increased.

He noted that councillors were paid an equal salary regardless of the size of the polling district they represented. He proposed that ward allowances for councillors with big polling districts should be increased if their salaries could not be increased.

Mr Othusitse Kantsi of Motopi also shared the sentiments. He said having one councillor for the two villages had led to rifts between residents.

The area, he also said, had poor roads and that the road linking the two villages was not easily accessible.

Mr Sam Digwa was also of the view that the population census should not be used as a determining factor, saying the challenges experienced in the district should instead be used.

For his part, the chairperson of the demarcation committee, Mr Ewetse Selelo noted that the quota for a polling district was 4 000 while the Makalamabedi population stood at over 1 500 and Motopi was over 1 200.

Mr Selelo said the number of each polling districts inhabitants should be near the quota as practicably possible.

He stated that the quota was determined by dividing the number of inhabitants in an administrative district by the number of polling districts in that district. He said other factors that the demarcation committee considered were natural community of interest, geographical features, means of communication, density of population and constituency boundaries.

He added that polling stations should be easily accessible, identifiable and that they should be public buildings and not private property.

Mr Selelo said they would study the population dynamics to ascertain the decrease or increase of inhabitants of each polling district. He said where there were no changes recommended the committee would re-state the boundary of the polling district, location and names of polling stations as contained in the last reports. ends