Note to Broadcasters: Please find the attached soundbite in English by Freddy Sonakile.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has conducted an oversight visit to a deserted state-of-the-art building in Tshidilamolomo, Ward 1 of Ratlou Local Municipality, to establish the reasons behind its abandonment and current state of vandalism.
Community members informed the DA that the facility was initially presented under the tenure of former MEC Fenny Gaolaolwe of the Department of Social Development as a planned old-age home. However, after construction, the project was never operationalised, and it has since fallen into disrepair.
When the Department of Social Development appeared before the North West Provincial Public Accounts Committee last year, the department confirmed that the facility was constructed by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) as a donation to the province. However, because the NLC failed to consult or align the project with the Department’s design and service delivery blueprints, the Department distanced itself from it and did not record it in its asset register.
This bureaucratic breakdown has resulted in a valuable public structure standing idle while the people of Tshidilamolomo and surrounding villages face ongoing socio-economic challenges.
The DA has written to the National Lotteries Commission requesting clarity on the project’s background, ownership, and cost, and urging that the building be repurposed and put to productive community use.
We have called on the NLC to undertake proper public participation and consultation with Bogosi jwa Mariba-a-Tlou under Kgosi Lekoko, as well as the surrounding communities, to explore suitable options for the facility’s use, whether as a youth centre, skills hub, health service point, or multipurpose community centre.
Communities must not suffer because of intergovernmental misalignment or administrative egos. The DA will continue to follow up with both the NLC and the Department of Social Development to ensure that this infrastructure is not left to decay but rather transformed into a space that benefits the people of Tshidilamolomo and the surrounding areas.