03 Mar 2015

A Francistown based social football club has donated a house valued at P200 000 to Ms Ketholetswe Makhwanye of Coloured location in the country’s second city.

Speaking at the handing over of the house on Saturday, February 28, the Patron of Gareitire Social Club, Mr Dico Bademhorst said he and his club believed that changing people’s conditions was like changing their future for the next generation.

Mr Bademhorst said through the donation of the house, the club was actually changing how Ms Makhwanye thought about herself; they were also trying to impact positively in her family values. 

The patron is also the Managing Director of Filtration Africa, the company that made the largest contribution towards the construction of the donation house.

Francistown East MP, Mr Buti Billy commended the club for its contribution towards the Vision 2016 pillar of ‘a compassionate, just and caring nation’.

The MP said clubs such as Gareitire were important partners in the development of people because government alone could not manage.

Mr Billy said the Francistown City Council was granted P187 million for the next financial year, the bulk of which was for employees’ salaries, which meant that it could not afford to assist the disadvantaged members of the community as expected.

He said Gareitire had demonstrated that football was not only about career and physique, but it was also about attending to the needs of other members of the community.

Mr Billy said other companies should emulate Filtration Africa and contribute towards improving the lives of Batswana.

He said if the many companies found in Francistown could work together towards the improvement of the lives of the people they live with, the city could be crime free and a better place to live in.

The former councilor for the area, Mr James Kgalajwe commended the club, saying their donation was part of the response to the Presidential Housing Appeal.

Mr Kgalajwe appealed to Ms Makhwanye’s children not to trouble her and to ensure that the house was properly looked after.

In response, Ms Makhwanye thanked the club for the house, noting that she would die a happy woman because she no longer stayed in a shack.

The house has two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, a sitting room and a courtyard.  ENDS