Select Page

Hardap Councillors shun Cassinga Day

(From left to right) Petrus Schmidt, Richard Hanson, district executives of Maltahohe District, Cllr Markus Saal, Hon, Joel Kaapanda, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Hans Joseph, District Co-ordinator, Elisabeth Visser, District Information Officer and Mobilizer, Hon Lucia Witbooi, Member of Parliament and Johannes Hendricks, branch co-ordinator during the minister’s visit to Maltahöhe over the long weekend. (Photograph by Lorato Khobetsi)

(From left to right) Petrus Schmidt, Richard Hanson, district executives of Maltahohe District, Cllr Markus Saal, Hon, Joel Kaapanda, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Hans Joseph, District Co-ordinator, Elisabeth Visser, District Information Officer and Mobilizer, Hon Lucia Witbooi, Member of Parliament and Johannes Hendricks, branch co-ordinator during the minister’s visit to Maltahöhe over the long weekend. (Photograph by Lorato Khobetsi)

The visible absence of the local authority leaders at the Cassinga Day commemorations in Maltahöhe on 04 May 2014 left Hon, Joel Kaapanda, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology disappointed.
The Minister and member of Parliament, Hon Lucia Witbooi are the leaders assigned to the Hardap Region to work with, advice and assist regional leaders as well as regional executives on issues regarding development in the region.
According to the minister, the absence of the local authority councillors is due to the disunity and fighting amongst the councillors.
“We do not have any local authority in Maltahöhe present here today, because the councillors are not united.

And there will not be development in the town of Maltahöhe because there is no unity. We are very disappointed,” said Kaapanda stating his ministry’s frustration with councillors that are on the Local Authority payroll but do not contribute to the advancement of the communities they represent.
He said, there are a lot of projects that need to be implemented in the town but they cannot be implemented because there are no leaders to implement them.
According to the minister, the implementation of these projects will create employment and improve lives of people in Maltahöhe.
“In Maltahöhe we need a clinic, a shopping mall, an SME Development Centre as well as a council office. We have offices that can be renovated so that we can create jobs for our children. The list is endless and there are lots of opportunities to create jobs for the people of Maltahöhe but without a functional council and a council without vision and a divided council, who will implement the development? This process will not be a reality,” he said.
Kaapanda added that at every level, there are leaders to bring development and said that like in Maltahöhe, the councillors should drive the development but they are not doing it and instead of concentrating on development, they are fighting each other.
“These people are from Maltahöhe, they were not imported. The government wants local people to empower themselves, and the government wants local people to think for themselves,”
“Maltahöhe town council is paralysed, the council is in intensive care unit. The council is dying. We do not want to see the council die, because Maltahöhe will go with it. We recognize that there are also challenges in the town, but the biggest is that the council is disfunctional,” Kaapanda concluded.
This was the minister’s first visit to the town of Maltahöhe in the Hardap Region.

About The Author