14 Feb 2016

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele, says government’s ability to provide accommodation to public officers has over the years been eroded by increase in the establishment.

Responding to a question on Friday, Mr Makgalemele said it had never been government’s intention to provide housing accommodation to all public officers because that was not achievable.
He explained that establishment of the public service stood at 127 312 against 31 600 housing units available for public officers.

Of these, he said 27 000 were district and institutional houses, 4 000 had been leased from the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) while 600 were privately owned and leased by government.
Nonetheless, Mr Makgalemele said government continued to provide housing for eligible public officers through three categories of housing; institutional, district and government pool housing.

He thus said government encouraged home ownership by public officers to supplement government housing units.
That, he said was facilitated through different schemes such as Government Employees Motor Vehicle Advance Scheme (GEMVAS), Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) and Public Officers Housing initiative.

Furthermore, he said tenders were also running for about 1 337 public officers housing under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP), including in Machaneng where 25 housing units were being constructed.
The assistant minister also told Parliament that officers were provided with accommodation at subsidised rentals.

He explained that employees occupying district or institutional housing in the districts were expected to pay either the assessed rental or 13 per cent of their basic salaries, whichever was less while those in district or institutional housing in urban areas were expected to pay either the assessed rental or 15 per cent of their basic salaries, whichever is less.

Parliament also heard that officers in remote areas were provided with free accommodation following government’s decision in 2014.
Such areas, he said included Remote Area Dweller Settlements, veterinary camps, wildlife camps and remotest areas in terms of distance and accessibility to their respective supply centres.

Again, he said public officers can access the Government Employees Motor Vehicle Advance Scheme (GEMVAS) to purchase, construct or improve residential property or to purchase residential plots.
“From October 2000 to February 5, 2016, 17 403 applications for residential property advances were approved.

The repayment period for residential property advances has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, thereby reducing the instalment and increasing the loan amount that one qualifies for,” he said.
In 2014, he said government introduced a special Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) scheme for public service employees of grade D4 and below and guidelines for implementation of the scheme were being finalised.

He also told Parliament that there was a public officers housing initiative aimed to avail 540 units for occupation by public officers countrywide.

“These would be two-bedroomed self-contained structures offering accommodation that is similar to SHHA turnkey housing units, but with enhanced specifications. 402 plots have been acquired and tenders have been awarded for construction of 39 houses in Kgatleng and Kweneng Districts. 157 and 44 tenders will be awarded in February and March respectively,” he said.

Mr Makgalemele was responding to a question from Member of Parliament for Nata/Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga who had earlier expressed concern about shortage of accommodation for public officers in the country. Ends