28 Aug 2019

Member of Parliament for Ramotswa, Mr Samuel Rantuana has encouraged residents of his constituency to take advantage of the proposed law which will allow residents to do businesses at the comfort of their homes.

The MP was updating his constituents about what transpired during the previous session of Parliament on August 26 during a kgotla meeting in Ramotswa

He said Parliament passed a bill, which when signed into a law, will allow citizens to run small businesses at their homes without being required to have a license.

Mr Rantuana said the law would make it easier for the citizens to start businesses and participate in the country’s economy.

However, such law would not override other existing regulations which addresses safety of the environment and the wellbeing of the community, he said.

The MP stated that the current arrangement for citizens to start small businesses had been tedious and in some cases discouraged local small businesses.

“The law should not be like it is a punishment, it is supposed to make life easier,” added the Ramotswa legislator.

Mr Rantuana said some of the beneficiaries of gender affairs program and Youth Development Fund have had to spend money on processes, which he said were frustrating. “This however did not guarantee that such applicants would be successful as some were rejected despite their efforts,” he observed. 

Therefore, the MP hailed the new bill saying small business owners would only be allowed to apply for licenses when their business were growing.

Other bills which were passed by Parliament were the companies re-registration bill, trade dispute amendment bill, Botswana Meat Commission transition bill and transfer duty bill among others, noted Mr Rantuana.

The MP also told his constituents that Parliament had also passed a land policy which now allowed married persons to each own a plot at both state land and tribal territory. 

“Also, farmers would be allowed to use up to half of their land for integrated farming,” he said.

 For her part, Kgosi Mosadi Seboko of Balete encouraged the community to seize the opportunities available in the horticultural sector and other agriculture related avenues.

She said despite that their area was small, GaMalete had underground water which residents could take advantage of to improve their lives.  Kgosi Mosadi regretted that youth were not adequately taking full advantage of the YDF hence she called for a changed mindset. Ends