05 May 2016

Deputy commissioner, social benefits from Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Mosidi Batsalelwang, says Botswana Post will stop providing social welfare services with effect from July 1.

Addressing Lobatse full council on Wednesday, Ms Batsalelwang said social welfare services such as payment of old age pension, World war veterans, people living with disabilities and destitute allowances, have been awarded to Sanduleka Telecom Botswana taking over from BotswanaPost.

She said the company won the tender to offer such services to Lobatse constituency and Southern District region to dispatch cash to the relevant beneficiaries.

Ms Batsalelwang said the Department of Social Protection will handle all the administration issues while Sanduleka Telecom Botswana monitors beneficiary payments.

She also said the beneficiaries will get their earnings from different identified reliable merchants in their locality for easy accessibility.

Furthermore, she said the company had been awarded few districts as they never had any business relationships with them to ensure that they executed their duties diligently.

Moreover, she said the company had been contracted for a period of 39 months and the agreement would elapse in 2019.

She implored Lobatse leadership to collaborate with the company, to ensure that the beneficiaries got what belonged to them without any difficulties.

For their part, councillors lauded the idea of roping in private companies to assist government to take service closer to the public, though with mixed feelings.

Woodhall ward councillor, Mr Molaodi Mantle said they were skeptical about the inception of new developments, to assist old age pensioners as they experienced some problems with Botswana Post in rendering their services to the beneficiaries in the previous years.

Mr Mantle said the newly engaged company should try by all means to close all the existing gaps to offer quality services to the elderly and other beneficiaries.

Botoka ward councillor, Ms Caroline Lesang said the move would ease movement for the elderly as they would spend less in taxi fares.

She also said their services offered at various points would reduce long queues as it used to be the case at post offices.

Lobatse mayor, also Thema/Motswedi ward councillor, Ms Malebogo Kruger said they should ensure that they increased the number of their services pointed from the current two, to at least  four to cater for all beneficiaries from different wards to avoid long queues.

In his response, Sanduleka Telecom Botswana manager, Mr Peter Kesitilwe said they started their business in 2007 and had developed electronic money transactions services such as e-wallet services at First National Bank (FNB) and My Zaka services to name a few.

He said in their operations they were going to target all general dealers in the vicinity as a way of reviving them as they did not have many clients that would cause long queues.

He also said they were going to employ undergraduates to operate the machines to assist the beneficiaries at the time of collecting their earnings.

Mr Kesitilwe said they were going to set regional offices in Lobatse, Kanye, Good Hope, Jwaneng and a satellite office in Mabutsane.

He also explained that the beneficiaries were going to be issued with cards and for security purposes, also going to use their finger prints also with options to open bank accounts for their money to be credited. They will hold kgotla meetings to sensitise all the relevant beneficiaries and the public at large about the new developments in the payment system. Ends