29 Jul 2014

Parliament has been informed that as of May 2014, the Kweneng East constituency list of people awaiting assessment for the poverty eradication programme stood at 1 253.

Aand to date 462 people out of that number had been assessed and the remaining ones will be assessed by end of this month.

Answering a question in Parliament, acting Minister forPresidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Shaw Khathi said some had been waiting since April 2013 saying it took long to assist the applicants due to shortage of manpower

He said there was only one social worker who was unable to reach out to all the individuals and that social workers in other areas could not be engaged as they were conducting assessment for large numbers registered in their areas.

Minister Kgathi said the assessment was conducted per wards not per register and some of the beneficiaries were not found at home during assessment. He further said one social worker cannot adequately serve a population of 11 000 as she is expected to perform other duties not related to poverty eradication.

“Initially two officers were based at Kopong but one has since been transferred to Kweneng/Medie,” he said, adding that during the last financial year, another social worker from the same constituency went for further studies leaving the constituency with a shortfall of three social workers

Furthermore, Minister Kgathi said it has not been possible to complete the assessment within reasonable time as the current workload is excessive and that plans are underway across the entire district to engage temporary social workers to address the back log including Kopong.

The minister was answering a question from MP for Kweneng East, Maj. Gen. Moeng Pheto who had asked the minister when the 400 applicants for poverty eradication projects in the Kweneng East constituency will be assessed and why it has taken  long before the assessments are made and whether one social worker is expected to adequately serve Kopong and its surrounding villages/ settlements with a population of 11 000. ENDS