25 Nov 2018

The Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane, has appealed to the public to be responsible with their finances. 

Officially opening Bayport Financial Services branch in Letlhakane on Saturday, Mr Tsogwane said funds obtained from financial providers must be channeled towards sustaining livelihoods. 

He said the community of Letlhakane and Boteti Sub-district must take advantage of financial services provided by Bayport and channel the funds towards sustainable projects to improve their lives. 

The Vice President, also Boteti West MP, said every Motswana regardless of gender, education, race, physical or mental ability must have the means to participate in growing economy of the country. Mr Tsogwane said it was unfortunate for people to be getting loans from financial providers only to squander it on activities that would be of no use. 

He appealed to Bayport, to not only give out funds but first establish that their customers were well informed on issues of financial literacy. 

For his part, Boteti East Member of Parliament, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe raised concerns about those with the habit of acquiring loans and not using them wisely. 

Mr Lelatisitswe said, “we welcome you to Letlhakane as a cooperate citizen, but be cautious and tread carefully as the commodity you dealing with has the power to make or break families.” 

He alerted Bayport of financial providers known to be violating the laws of the country by taking actions that impacted negatively on family structures. 

“We have cases of some financial providers lending finances to married men or women without the consent of their spouses. 

Let us not only focus on growing the company but also but also take into consideration the interests of the community into account,” he said. 

He said communities lacked financial literacy because the way some spent money was questionable and heart breaking. 

Mr Lelatisitswe therefore appealed to Bayport Financial Services to adopt financial education as its corporate social investment project. 

He also applauded the company for opening a branch in Letlhakane saying it would not only provide financial services but also create employment and also urged them to extend a helping hand to the day to day development agenda of the village. 

“You must not only focus on the business, also take pride in what you do for the community,” he said. Kgosi Tikologo Supang warned Bayport to be cautious in their business dealings. 

He said they would be dealing with customers of different educational levels and therefore it would be important to fully explain their services to them in order to avoid negative branding from unhappy customers. 

“Help your customers understand your service fully,” he said. Kgosi Supang appreciated developments taking place in Letlhakane but appealed to the youth to utilise the services by venturing into viable projects. 

“We want to see young people growing in business, please manage your finances accordingly, do not involve yourselves in financial debt that will only bring pain and suffering to your lives,” he said. ENDS