Residents of ungazetted settlement crave resources
In all the 20 years that Tsabahule Kgotlhang has been councilor for Ditshegwane, he has been very vocal about KgareSebotswane settlement being recognised as part of Ditshegwane village.
However, to date, his dream remains unrealised. He took the matter to Kweneng District Council and his plea was accepted. He thought by now, the matter would have been finalised because the more government delays, the more the people will suffer.
“Those people are suffering; children attend school in Ditshegwane and the sick access health care here while their area remains neglected with no access to basic needs. I long suggested that KgareSebotswane be incorporated into Ditshegwane as a ward. That way we can share resources as one,” he said.
He added that when Letlhakeng District Council was upgraded from sub district to a fully fledged council in 2022, he brought the matter to them. “I believe they have acted on it, but the process is just taking too long to conclude,” he said.
Letlhakeng Council chairperson Anderson Mathibe said they are aware of Kgotlhang’s request.
“We have done all that is necessary to ensure that his plea is listened to. It should be noted that when requests are made, there are processes followed, the KgareSebotswane matter is currently being handled by the Ministry of Local Government, we expect that they will respond to the matter once ready,” said Mathibe.
He went on to say after being upgraded to a district council, the Ministry communicated with them requesting that they resend names of the areas they wished to be incorporated into other villages and KgareSebotswane is one of the names they have submitted, meaning that soon, the Ministry will respond on the matter.
Mathibe went on to explain that they have already advised Kgotlhang that in case the Ministry responds in the negative, they should be prepared to consider requesting that KgareSebotswane turns into an independent village and not be incorporated as a ward in Ditshegwane. The council chairperson said KgareSebotswane is about 24km from Ditshegwane and it might take many years for the two areas to be seen as one.
In 2014, incorporation of KgareSebotswane reached parliament and at the time, Ministry of Local Government informed parliament that KgareSebotswane could not be incorporated because there was no submission of a resolution from Kweneng District Full council recommending the incorporation.
Last year, area Member of Parliament, Tshoganetso Leuwe pleaded with government to fast-track upgrading of the KgareSebotswane settlement, saying it was long recommended to attain the status of a gazetted settlement. However, implementation was still lagging. “Gazetting the settlement will necessitate availing of basic needs to the area,” he had said.