07 Mar 2017

Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo has expressed concern over the bad image that has been brought about by notorious delinquent groups namely Matsetsenkane, Merubisi and Magakabe in Thamaga.

Officiating at a stakeholder workshop that purposed to discuss delinquency issues bedevilling the village recently, Mr Mabeo said the terror they had caused in the village was not a desirable way of life and ‘cannot continue’.

Mr Mabeo however said ‘for the healing process to begin, this is the starting point’.
The minister noted that such platforms were crucial because children belonged not only to Thamaga, but to a wider community.

He also explained that government had commited to help remedy the situation in the form of rehabilitation programmes targetting such children.
On the other hand, principal assistant district officer, Ms Kelebileone Mogome said Re a Nyalana, an initiative aimed at assisting couples who have stayed together and cannot afford wedding expenses legalise their union was coming to Thamaga.

Having dealt with complex issues involving children in Thamaga, Ms Mogome explained that the district commissioner’s office had realised that most cases that were reported to her office mostly concerned relationships that had gone sour between parents and children end up being caught in the feud.

She further explained that more often, the father would report that the mother denied him opportunity to see the child.
In such cases children are caught up in the middle ground, leading to permanent scars in the child’s life, which in turn leads to rebellious behaviour.

Also, she said, most of the time children were forced to bear the brunt, especially when partners brought along children into new relationships.
Such issues, Ms Mogome said had led them to resolve to bring the Re a Nyalana programme to the village so that residents could have the opportunity to legalise their relationships and raise children in stable marital homes.

Childline Botswana chairperson, Ms Wilhemina Makwinja explained that the objective of the workshop was to find underlying factors contributing to delinquency in Thamaga and extend their services as well as reach out to the community to bridge the existing knowledge gap.

Thamaga has battled with delinquency in the past few years and some people have lost lives since the gangster groups started terrorising the village.  
Therefore there had been a lot of intervention through various groups while all stakeholders had identified lack of education on issues affecting children as the main cause of delinquency in Thamaga. ENDS