SELF-SABOTAGE
Batswana connive with non -citizens for tenders
Letlhakeng District Council Chairperson, Anderson Mathibe says they have observed with great concern how Batswana are betraying themselves then turn around and claim being sidelined in government tenders.
For the longest period, Batswana have been complaining that government allocates tenders to outsiders instead of empowering natives. But what most people do not know is that some locals connive with outsiders to get tenders. This happens with with both locals and non-citizens, where a district council would reserve tenders for residents within the district but would be defeated when the district dwellers themselves aid outsiders to tender instead; or where tenders are reserved for citizens and the citizens themselves aid foreigners through fronting.
Where a tender has already been awarded, and some people get to know the real owners of the contracted companies, it is government of the district councils that are accused of preferring outsiders, when the rot is done by Batswana themselves, for some pittance.
In the case of district jobs reserved for locals, Mathibe says they have observed the same residents would assist non-residents get all required documentation needed to prove that they are natives, making it easy for them to be included in databases.
“We always follow the Procurement Act which calls for empowering citizens by reserving tenders for locals but what they do is help outsiders have addresses everywhere in the country. They make it possible for outsiders to be considered as locals when they are not,” he said.
He explained that in his district, they took deliberate measures to exclude any business person from outside the district for some tenders, saying people who apply for tenders should have identification documentation coming from the village chief and the Village Development Committee (VDC).
“But what villagers now do is take strangers to the village leadership and convince them that they are their relatives who reside outside the district. They would tell Kgosi that such persons are their sister’s child, cousin or niece, and when such happens, we cannot really argue and say people are lying. This is how outsiders get to be included in all databases around the country,” Letlhakeng Council Secretary Tsholofelo Molaodi stressed.
The Letlhakeng Council boss shared that since becoming a fully-fledged district council in 2022, they have been hard at work trying to improve the livelihoods of the people and they need the full cooperation of the community to achieve their goals.
They strive to be among the best performing councils in the country hence they embarked on a week-long retreat in the outskirts of Lobatse last week to discuss pertinent issues away from Council chambers.
Among issues discussed was the length of time it takes to conclude projects. They have noticed how after awarding tenders, some contractors take long to complete the job, some deliver sub-standard work, while others abandon the job altogether.
“We have decided that we will soon be meeting with contractors to share our concerns and also hear from them. They need to know that when they do not deliver, members of the community suffer most,” Mathibe said.
He added that in the few months that they have been independent from Kweneng Council, they have managed to build a bus rank in Letlhakeng, which they intend to develop by constructing a shopping mall alongside it.
“We aim to do our best to improve the economy of Letlhakeng, we will be looking into all sectors and turning them all into opportunities. We want to be able to attract investors to Letlhakeng, currently we are heavily dependent on the sectors of Arts and Culture, Agriculture and Tourism, we will explore more ways of commercialising them,” he said.