CEDA takes services to remote areas
Lebogang Baingapi | Thursday April 20, 2017 16:56
Last week, the agency brought a mobile unit here to inform residents about their latest offerings.
Speaking at the event, Kanye branch manager Ogaufi Tafa encouraged the residents to seek funding from CEDA to start any economically viable businesses.
CEDA has 10 offices nationwide and Tafa said the Kanye office has taken a deliberate decision to bring services to settlements under its roof. She said the mobile unit will tour the district in order to reach out to people who could not reach their offices for services.
CEDA launched the mobile offices last month when they unveilled the unit in Mmathethe.
“We launched the Mabogo-dinku programme in September 2016 and so far it has been a success,” she said.
“The programme funds a group of 5 to 15 people who have the same intentions of being entrepreneurs to the tune of between P500-P150,000.”
Under the new programme, Tafa disclosed that they have managed to fund a total of 51 people at the value of P450,611. She urged Bikwe residents to take advantage of the programme and turn to business for survival.
However, Village Development Committee chairperson Aggie Molelekwa decried the slow pace of developments in their area. She said the settlement was established in 1904 but it has no electricity, internal roads or at least a road that joins Bikwe with neighbouring villages.
Bikwe is approximately 8km from Manyana and Xhosa people are the major tribe. However, the residents live next to their fields and depend mostly on farming and the government’s temporary relieve programme.
Molelekwa highlighted in an interview that they have few government funded projects which are mostly agricultural. She said most of service centred projects will not survive due to the population of their area which is not yet recognised as a village. She further said most of their desired businesses require electricity unless the government resorts to connect solar power energy to their area.
She implored the government to hasten developments and upgrade of their area to be a village in order to attract investors and enable residents to fully access government funding to start businesses.