05 Mar 2015

Residents of Sesung and Letlhakane East have been encouraged to partake in the fight against abject poverty by establishing cooperatives that can support and sustain poverty eradication projects.

The Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Mr Philip Makgalemele said this during a kgotla meeting he addressed at the two villages on March 4.

Mr Makgalemele said cooperatives used to benefit the communities a lot resulting in profitable projects, hence the need for villagers to establish them.

The assistant minister also informed residents about his ministry’s mandate and asked communities to fully utilise government assistance programmes to wipe out poverty and empower Batswana economically.

He said some poverty eradication projects were not doing well thereby defeating the intended purpose of the programmes, adding that some of those projects could become successful if done through cooperatives since the government has an upper hand in assisting people working as a team.

Mr Makgalemele advised residents to come up with other packages they consider suitable and profitable for their areas, adding that there were 45 packages introduced by government to eradicate abject poverty by 2017.

Concerning people living with disabilities, he stated that the disability policy was being amended and soon people living with disability would be issued with cards to assist them when traveling by buses. 

He noted that they would also receive P300 monthly allowance to improve their daily lives and given priority in employment.

Mr Makgalemele also appealed to civil servants to attend kgotla meetings when addressed by their MPs and councillors to answer questions rather than wait for ministers and the President.

Commenting, residents complained about delay in conducting workshops for beneficiaries and providing equipment for the projects. 

They stated that backyard gardening projects had collapsed due to water shortage.

They also praised the government for development programmes and asked for their continuation. 

They said this year signs of drought had become visible and urged civil servants to pull up their socks in disseminating information about programmes. ENDS