Summit 2019:Selebi Phikwe Town Council

The council’s gender champion is Tladi Pilane, who is also the Chief of the town’s fire department and the gender focal person is Lame Osupile

Gender Policy

The council does not have a gender policy but it has an action plan that incorporates the Post 2015 SADC Gender Protocol, SDGs.

Governance

There council has 6 female councillors and 10 male councillors. Women and men represent 37.5% and 62.5 of the council’s management respectively as opposed to 52% representation of women in the previous year. Youth represent 10% of the council staff and PWD represent 0.7%. Women representation in engineering departments is 50%. Women chair 42.9% of the council’s committees.

Workplace Policy and Practice

The council provides ramps for PWDs and maternity leave for pregnant female workers. There is also a sexual harassment policy in place that is adhered to. The council has 206 registered Ipelegeng beneficiaries and assists 679 needy students,357 of whom are females and 327 males.575 students were assisted under cost sharing and 394 destitute persons were assisted with safety nets in the previous month. The council assisted 33 CHBC with safety nets and also assisted 399 OVC’s.

Local Economic Development

The council has funded 249 poverty eradication projects and 137 of them are currently operational. P619,780.00 has been budgeted for the empowerment of women and other disadvantaged groups.

Climate Change and Sustainable Development

The council has leased space at the landfill to a youth owned company for setting up a reclamation plant. Litter picking campaigns are held every month and the council has outsourced waste collection services to 2 waste collection companies where one is owed by a woman and the other by a man. Other recycling projects supported by the council include a project to turn plastic into fuel.

Infrastructure and Social Development

The Selibe Phikwe Town Council has to date awarded 5000 SHAA plots. Council has 41 market stalls, 36 of them are operated by women and 5 by men. No stalls were awarded to PWDs because none applied for one. No houses have been built for destitute persons in this financial year. In pursuance of affirmative action for vulnerable groups, the council reserved the building of 5 primary school guard houses to be executed by youth and the maintenance of 5 market places for former BCL employees.15/23 architecture and buildings projects have been won by youth and 4/5 roads department projects are also by youth.

Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV & AIDS

Council has formulated a SRHR plan but no activities have been executed yet as the gender committee is still fund raising.

Ending Violence

Selibe Phikwe streets are illuminated at 72 % and 83% of the town’s streets have been named      . The gender committee often holds discussions on GBV and domestic violence on wellness Wednesdays. In November last year the council held a commemoration event for the 16 days of activism against GBV and in December  they hosted a 5 day Sunrise campaign workshop for 30 GBV survivors.

Communications, Campaigns and Visibility

Council has a Facebook page and a news bulletin that is used for communications. The Gender committee’s Sunrise training has appeared on the bulletin.

Gender Management System

The council has a gender committee that consists of 12 members and also has departmental representatives in the committee. The gender committee convenes for meetings on a monthly basis. The committee won Best Performing Committee of the year during the council’s awards last year.

Challenges

One of the main challenges that still persists is the lacking gender specific budget for activities. Change of leadership is also a challenge especially since the incoming leadership not big on gender issues. Commitment of gender committee members is also a major challenge.

Lessons Learned and Innovation

The committee has realized the need to lobby for a dedicated budget to carry out gender activities. The committee will also train the council’s management on gender.

Sustainability and Replication

To sustain the work of the COE, the committee will continually provide training for committee members. The council has partnered with SPEDU & other stakeholders for projects to revitalize the town such as the 1000km Desert race where more than 600 permits have already been sold in Selebi Phikwe only. An MOU was signed in September 2018 with the relevant stakeholders, for the refurbishment of the bus/taxi rank and construction of a commercial mall. Another MOU was signed in 2017 for the construction of a gold estate & resort in Phikwe.