28 Jun 2023

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development intends to table a bill to review and amend the Bogosi Act of 2008.

Updating Ntlo ya Dikgosi on Monday, Mr Mabuse Pule said the second meeting of the third Ntlo ya Dikgosi adopted the motion which was tabled by Kgosi Maruje III of Masunga. Mr Pule said the motion sought to elevate the status of Bogosi to commensurate with the responsibilities and relevance of the institution in the governance structure.

Kgosi David Toto II of Kgalagadi South region asked the assistant minister whether he would consider reducing the old age pension age from 65 years to 60 years since retirement age was 60 years for most government employees.

Mr Pule said due to budgetary constraints government had no plans to consider reducing payment of old age pension age.

Mr Pule noted that old age pension was given to citizens who were 65 years and above irrespective of their employment status. He added that his ministry was mandated to provide other social protection programmes that the elderly could benefit from should they be found to be living in low socio-economic status.

Kgosi Itsoseng Gaoonwe of Letlhakeng region also asked the assistant minister if he was aware that there was a huge disparity in salary scales between tribal administrators and other local authorities, and whether there was a plan to rectify the inconsistency.

Kgosi Gaoonwe also wanted to know the rationale behind the arrangement of tribal administrators being under the dispensation of the four local authorities.

Mr Pule said his ministry was aware of the disparity in salary scales between tribal administrators and other local authorities at district level. He said the salary scale was determined by the responsibilities assigned to the position and such a decision was influenced by the grading and profiling of the job.

However, Mr Pule said considerations were ongoing to review the job content of tribal administrators with the view to consider upgrading their salary scale. He also acknowledged the need to upgrade Ramaphatle to Headman of Record (Kgosana).

He said Ramaphatle was amongst many villages that had been gazetted and qualified for tertiary III level of services, including upgrading of the village kgotla from court of arbitration to court of record.

However, Mr Pule said it had not been possible to upgrade the customary court on account of budgetary constraints. He noted that currently Ramaphatle residents were getting customary court services at Thamaga and Mmankgodi. Kgosi Edison Gobuamang of Thamaga region had asked whether the minister would consider upgrading the Ramaphatle post to headman of record due to increasing village population. Furthermore, Mr Pule told Ntlo ya Dikgosi that the recent upgrading of sub councils to full-fledged councils had not affected tribal territories and that Bogosi and land boards were not affected.  Responding to a question from Kgosi Sibangani Mosojane of North East region, Mr Pule said his ministry was not aware that there was a prolonged tendering system of procuring spare parts and booking for vehicle service at the Central Transport Organisation (CTO).

He said his ministry was aware that CTO used the procuring system that was set out in the new promulgated Public Procurement Act to procure services from private entities to maintain the government fleet.

Mr Pule said district councils had been tasked to maintain the tribal administration fleet since the 2014/2015 financial year.

Due to administrative challenges, Mr Pule said some district councils had not been able to offer the service optimally. He said over P5 million had been spent in servicing the Department of Tribal Administration fleet in the 2022/2023 financial year.

Kgosi Mosojane had asked if he was aware of the prolonged tendering system and booking for vehicle service at CTO, and whether there was consideration to service such vehicles at their respective council’s service points to reduce the turnaround time.

Kgosi Mosojane also wanted to know the total amount used to service the Department of Tribal Administration vehicles in the 2022/2023 financial year. ENDS