30 Aug 2024

Kgosi Oateng Setlhodi of Chanoga has resigned after serving for 12 years.

Mr Setlhodi, who was also a member of Ntlo Ya Dikgosi, bid farewell to Chanoga residents saying he was paving way for the rightful royal family to take over the throne.

He ascended to the throne in 2012 taking over from his uncle, the late Kgosi Tlhapietsile Sekopo to hold the fort for Sekopo’s son, who was still young then.

“Tota ke ne ke tshwareletse jaanong ke neela beng ba bogosi setilo. At the moment, no one has been appointed to take over but that lies with the royal family to decide and follow the right procedure," he added.

He said he retired a happy man as he had made significant strides as far as developments were concerned in Chanoga. Through his visionary leadership, he said he had created an enabling environment for the community to venture into sustainable income generating projects such as the construction of a guesthouse and establishment of a horticulture project.

Other projects he contributed to their successes included the construction of the Chanoga kgotla shelter and renovation of the tribal offices and he said efforts were also underway to construct children’s playground. He also pointed out that he had played a key role in motivating parents to play an active role in their children’s education.

The move, he said saw the improvement of Chanoga Primary School performance improving drastically as the school scored over 70 per cent in the last year’s Primary School Leaving Education (PSLE).

Furthermore, he said he also played a part in the fight against stock theft, saying that through teamwork with the community, they managed to form farmers committees and ensured that the KgomoKhumo initiative was extended to their jurisdiction.

“While at Ntlo ya Dikgosi, I also managed to request a ranch for Makalamabedi and Chanoga communities at Hainaveld ranches so that they could venture into a project of their choice. As we speak, the ranch has been allocated. I also assisted the Makalamabedi community to register a trust while the Chanoga trust is in good standing,” he said.

Kgosi Setlhodi also noted that he had facilitated training of over 100 young people in entrepreneurial skills through the Local Enterprise Authority. He said he had also made efforts to lure the private sector to assist the farming community with drilling of boreholes to mitigate the effects of drought following the drying up of the Chanoga channel.

Kgosi Setlhodi thanked the community for entrusting him with the mammoth task to lead them hoping that his successor would carry on the baton and complete the pending projects for the benefit of the community.