SDA PAYS TRIBUTE TO GORDON MOLEFE, IT’S FOUNDING PROCESS DRIVER
By Thulane Madalane
Groblersdal:Chairman of the Board of Sekhukhune Development Agency (SDA) Mr Tshabedi Serote has on Tuesday sent condolences to Molefe family, friends and colleagues of the late Bongani Gordon Molefe. In reacting to Mr Molefe’s untimely passing on Saturday , the Chairman said the SDA joins the mourning local government sector and the country at large in grief of the departure of the finest mind in the economic development space.
“Mr Molefe is affectedly remembered for the role he played in the establishment of Sekhukhune Development Agency between 2008 and 2010 where he studiously served as the founding Process Driver. After the gazetting of the Bylaw that established SDA by Limpopo Provincial Legislature, Mr Molefe steered the process of staffing and the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer” explained Serote
Taking cue from Serote the former Board Chairperson Mr Tito Nkadimeng said working with Molefe gave SDA the brainy energy for its jump start, particularly after the promulgation of the ByLaw in 2010. Nkadimeng evoked memories of how Molefe preferred to simplify the establishment of SDA as an expression of the Constitution of South Africa.
“He ardently sought to bring the layman’s perspective to unpack complex concept and processes. He would insist that the SDA is an expression of the Constitutional provision that local government has a mandatory obligation to enable economic development” recalled Nkadimeng
Nkadimeng explained that from the beginning there was a clear commitment to create an entity that will fully account to government, the parent municipality, but fully empowered to optimally achieve economic development and growth for the District.
“We looked no further than Bongane to be the driver of the process to achieve our District’s Constitutional mandate on economic development. While it was never an easy assignment the young Molefe rose to the occasion to set up legal and other machinations to define the Sekhukhune District’s future into the first economy” explained Nkadimeng
“It all began in 2005 at the Sekhukhune Water Summit where the original idea was to form a water entity that would be entrusted with providing raw water to the mines, hence the emergence of Lebalelo Water Users Association which supplied raw water in the Burgersfort area. We needed an entity to operate the pipeline profitably and sustainably. This was also around the same time when De Hoop Dam was conceived, and we began to look for economic activities beyond providing raw water to mining industry. We then undertook a long-term research work to direct the economic integration of the District under Vision 2025 that Molefe meticulous spearhead. We were ahead of the country’s National Development Plan or Vision 2030 in terms of outlook” added Nkadimeng
Nkadimeng further added that SDA was conceived as a departure from short-term arrangement such as annual IDP/Budget into an institutional base and an outlook where the economy of the District has a capable driver.
In his conclusion the Sekhukhune Development Agency’s Chairman Mr Tshabedi Serote expressed the depth of gratitude to pioneers such as the late Bongane Molefe for paving the way for transforming the economic landscape of Sekhukhune District. Tshabedi, other former Chairpersons of the SDA, staff and well washers will be paying their last respect for the late Bongane Gordon Molefe by attending the funeral service on Thursday at Rabasotho Hall in Tembisa, Gauteng Province.
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