06 Aug 2015

Mr Dirisa Selelelabongaka is a frustarted young man. 

As a resident of Kaudwane, a village that sits at the mouth of the Khutse Game Reserve in Kweneng District, he was entitled to various social benefits from the government because of his social standing.

One of such benefits was the monthly destitute cash allowance. At the beginning of June last year, government ceased the traditional coupon system for the more conventional Posocard, a credit card system where beneficiaries could access their allowances at any branch of the BotswanaPost.

However, Mr Selelelabongaka said since introduction of the card, beneficiaries faced various challenges in accessing their allowance to the extent that they could go for months without food.

“Personally, I have not been able to access my allowance since the new system started and it is over a year now. I just wish arrangements could be made for some of us to revert to the old coupon system while they sort out this thing,” he said.

Mr Selelelabongaka said he had been following up the issue with   Letlhakeng Post Office, but they had not been of much assistance. He said the explanation he got was that BotswanaPost had erroneously cut two cards in his name.

He said the last time he enquired he learnt that they were in the process of cancelling one of the cards, which would hopefully enable his allowance to start flowing to him.

Ms Mashale Obotseng, a member of the pensions committee in the village, said they were not aware of Mr Selelelabongaka’s challenges.

“We are also concerned about the challenges brought about by the new card. Ever since it started, things have not been flowing like they used to, hence the formation of this committee to liaise with the BotswanaPost on behalf of the beneficiaries,” she says.

Ms Obotseng said the committee did not only assist pensioners, but all beneficiaries of various government initiatives. She said the Posocard had been working smoothly until the decimation of the nearby Khutse Lodge by fire early this year.

“We used to take advantage of the Mascom network transmission from the lodge, but since the lodge burnt down, the network has been a challenge. Most of the failures experienced are a result of the network than the card itself,” she said.

She also said most of the residents did not go through the committee, but preferred to go individually to Letlhakeng to raise their complaints.  

Ms Obotseng said with the card, one could get money anywhere and anytime. 

For her part, BotswanaPost Letlhakeng branch manager, Ms Goitseone Sephiri, said they were aware of instances where some beneficiaries in the area failed to access their allowances. She said the major challenges were  beneficiaries’ broken fingerprints as well as network coverage. 

“Most of our clients come with damaged fingerprints which cannot be detected by the machine. In such instances, we immediately edit the card. Sometimes the problem can be due to the poor network coverage,” she said. 

On whether the Posocard was more convenient than the conventional coupon system, Ms Sephiri said, “the Posocard is more convenient than the coupon system because with the former a client can stay for about six months without drawing their money whereas with the latter you have to fill a claim for arrears when you miss a month,” she said. Ends