30 Aug 2024

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has a plan under its development budget, to conduct expansion, major maintenance and construction of offices across the country.

This was said by local government assistant minister, Honourable Mabuse Pule when answering a parliamentary question on Tuesday.

Honourable Pule said tribal administration was undergoing restructuring process which was at an advanced stage and the structure was expected to address functional and deployment issues within the department upon completion.

Relating to the status of the Department of Tribal Administration, he said there were 520 dikgotla, 23 urban customary courts, two customary courts of appeal, 668 dikgosi, 2 643 headman of arbitration, 23 court presidents and 21 deputy court presidents spread across the whole country. He added that the establishment in terms of support staff currently stood at 2 363 and 434 vehicles had been allocated to different dikgotla.

In terms of financial support, he said the Department of Tribal Administration was supported with a budget of over P826 million (P826 316 190) for all financial needs in the year 2024/25 financial year.

On one hand, he said Mahalapye tribal administration had an establishment of 188 out of which 177 were occupied and 11 positions were vacant with specific reference to Mahalapye village, out of the 25 positions, 22 were filled while three were vacant.

“My ministry is aware of aggrieved officers due to lack of progression, promotions, training and development. When promotional positions are available these are competed for by all qualifying officers in the Department.

A total of 32 officers were promoted within Mahalapye District from 2019 to 2024,” he said.

He said promotions were a portion of 399 total vacant posts within the department during the period.

He indicated that due to financial constraints, the ministry had been unable to conduct long term training but had managed to conduct short term courses in which 13 officers were trained on supervisory skills and basic computer skills.

“It is common practice that employees are replaced in the public service for purposes of continuity and for effective service delivery.

I am not aware of the non-replacement of retired officers in the Department of Tribal Administration including Mahalapye,” he said.

Also, he said the ministry was aware of the ever increasing need to provide more personnel in the tribal districts, including Mahalapye.

“However, the public service as a whole is on zero growth due to budgetary constraints. Despite this challenge, my ministry is undergoing restructuring exercise and the one for Department of Tribal Administration is at advanced stage. We hope that the recommendations of the exercise will give guidance on the staffing norms,” he said.

He further said the ministry had not yet received request for upgrading of Tewane main kgotla from Mahalapye Tribal Administration, adding however, when such request was submitted, it would be considered together with other competing priorities.

He indicated that the ministry did not have a budget specifically for Mahalapye. However, he said the department vehicle maintenance vote was allocated P5 million for the financial year 2024/2025 which was still insufficient to maintain all vehicles.

He added that Mahalapye was allocated P150 000 for vehicle maintenance and P80 000 for office stationery. Mahalapye West MP, Mr David Tshere, had the minister to appraise Parliament on the status of the Department of Tribal Administration and further state the total number of positions in the establishment at Mahalapye Tribal Authority and the number of the positions are occupied.

Mr Tshere also asked the minister if he was aware that tribal authority officers were aggrieved due to lack of progression, promotions, training and development as well as plans to create new positions for Mahalapye Tribal Authority considering the ever increasing challenges as well as population size.

He also wanted to know when the ministry planned to upgrade the Tewane main kgotla from court of arbitration to court of record. He further wanted to know the budget for Mahalapye Tribal Authority and how much was allocated for vehicle maintenance and office stationery, among other things.