28 Aug 2016

Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu, has urged the public to be vigilant about some pastors.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Toteng on August 23, he said his ministry was disturbed by pastors who were making businesses at the expense of Batswana, adding that at some point, their applications would be rejected.

He wondered why pastors were charging for their services, noting that Jesus Christ healed people freely. He was briefing residents about the amendment of Societies Act.

Mr Batshu explained that the amendment was necessitated by the mushrooming of churches, particularly under foreign leadership.

He said they realised that some people were abusing the clause of registering of churches noting that even families were taking advantage of the act.

He explained that initially, the act prescribed the minimum number of persons for the formation and registration of society as 10 and the figure had to be increased to 150 as religious organisations were by nature mass organisations.

Mr Batshu mphasised the need for all, including expatriates, to obey the legislation in place, noting that people who violated the law should be convicted.

Residents were briefed about the Birth and Death Registration Act that called for registration of births within 60 days and registration of deaths within 30 days.

Mr Batshu also informed them about the importance of birth registration which he said it assisted in development planning be it education, health just to mention a few.

He also emphasised that every Motswana aged 16 years and above should have an identification card (ID or Omang) which he described as a key to life. He said it was disturbing as some people apply for Omang at an old age. 

Minister also sensitised residents about Marriage Act. He said marriage was a good thing, but expressed concern about marriage of convenience between locals and foreigners.

Mr Batshu said they experienced marriages where some foreigners married locals to either acquire citizenship or benefit from the property of the other spouse.  He urged the locals to be careful with such marriages. The minister however, noted that there were some foreigners who married for the right reasons.

Residents were also told to follow the right procedure if they wanted to change names.

The minister said although the procedure took time, but emphasised the need to name children good names which gave them dignity.

For their part, residents requested the minister to open a border post at Phalaphala area to make it easier for them to cross over into neighbouring Namibia. They said though the two countries were just a stone throw away from each other, they have to travel first to areas where there are border posts to check their relatives.

Responding to their comments, Mr Batshu said there was no arrangement to open a border post at Phalaphala, noting that they would rather upgrade the one at Dobe which is currently manned by police officers and Botswana Defence Force officers.

He said residents should appreciate efforts made to easy movement, noting that initially they were using Mohembo and Mamuno border posts and efforts were made to open at Dobe. ENDS