27 Aug 2020

The department of Gender Affairs in the Serowe Sub-district has, since the inception of Women Economic Empowerment Programme, funded 42 projects.

Briefing the Serowe Sub-district Council meeting on August 25, district officer development, Ms Itumeleng Peter said 26 of those projects were operational, four non-operational and 12 had collapsed due to group dynamics and lack of market.

Ms Peter said the success rate of the programme in terms of operational project was 62 per cent.

She said the four non-operational projects were in the process of being resuscitated. 

They include three small stock projects at Tshimoyapula and one nappy production project in Serowe.

Ms Peter further stated that Mokgarathi poultry farm at Mabeleapudi had collapsed because beneficiaries had issues with the VDC in their area concerning land in which the project was located.

She added that the beneficiaries had constructed a permanent structure on the vVillage Development Committee (VDC)  plot, adding that their office had arranged to meet with both the committee and beneficiaries to resolve the land issue.

She said GEE FLOW Fashion textile project in Serowe was doing well despite interruptions by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that they intend to register their business with CIPA.

The officer also said challenges concerning the progress of projects included disintegration of groups, failure to submit progress reports and poor record-keeping.

She also cited lack of commitment by the beneficiaries as some had abandoned the projects, adding that failure to contact some beneficiaries also made project-monitoring difficult.

Regarding the inception of Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID), councillors were informed that in 2010, a total of 1 802 projects were implemented under the programme, 1 763 of which were operating while 39 were non-operational.

Ms Peter stated that the programme created employment for 1 672 people.

Some of the projects included small stock, Tswana chicken, borehole drilling, kraal, crush and loading ramp, fodder processer and fodder pan, all at the cost of P17 749 061.

Challenges cited covered shortage of transport, which made it difficult to monitor and implement projects effectively and poor management practices by beneficiaries. 

Also, some beneficiaries are unwilling to move their livestock to cattle posts because they wanted to engage in Ipelegeng.

Commenting, the councillors raised a concern about poor implementation of programmes and monitoring.

The councillors said most programmes were good, but lack of resources, manpower and poor monitoring failed government initiatives. ends