06 Apr 2025

Tlokweng District Councillors have shot down a proposal by the council for the construction of storm water drains to reduce the negative impacts of floods in the village. 

This came out during a special full council session of the authority recently where consultations were made on the implementation of the Constituency Community Projects (CCP). The request was for P10 million for the implementation of the projects for the financial year 2025/26. 

Presenting the project memorandum, the Chief Planning and Development Officer, Ms Gorata Sefawe said the programme would deliver about 11 projects in the Tlokweng constituency. She said the funding would be utilised primarily for the construction of storm water drains, which included mainly construction of culverts and storm water drains. 

She said the district was lacking a proper storm water drainage system resulting in frequent flooding of plots and roadways during the rainy season. She said the flooding had led to road deterioration, property damage and disruption of transport and economic activities, adding that addressing the challenges would enhance road safety, improve accessibility and support the district’s economic and social development.  Ms Sefawe said the storm water had washed away all the gravel and damaged almost all the gravel and earth roads rendering them impassable. 

Contributing to the debate, Letlapeng ward councilor, Mr Collen Mochotlhi, said due process was not followed with regards to the CCP project guidelines as far as project selection was concerned. He said instead of the proposed construction of the storm water drainage systems the funds be channelled towards water reticulation at Letlapeng and Maratadiba wards, which were hard hit by water supply challenges. 

Lesunyana ward councilor, Mr Ntwaetsile Tiro said the construction of the system needed a proper storm water drainage master plan, which is a long-term plan requiring significant amount of money. He said there were other priorities that the community had proposed at a recent consultative kgotla meeting, among them being the paving of internal roads. 

Old Kgosing ward councilor, Mr Mothusi Seakgosing said not enough consultations were done before the presentation of the project memorandum to the full council session. He said councillors were clueless on what criteria was used on projects selection. 

Ranfurwa ward councilor, Ms Sheila Moalosi also questioned the criteria on projects selection and proposed a master plan that would cover the whole village, which was a long-term solution to the challenge. The majority of views proposed the paving of internal roads and council chairperson who is also councillor for Selokwana ward, Ms Ontiretse Bogatsu passed a resolution that council proposed paving as the main CCP project proposal. ENDS