16 Apr 2020

Gaborone City Council chief social and community development officer, Ms Segopotso Dikai says a total of 6 133 households had been assessed for possible COVID-19 relief food basket assistance in Gaborone.

In an interview with BOPA, she said so far 40 families had received food baskets and the identification of households that would benefit from the food basket was ongoing. 

Ms Dikai said out of the 6 133 assessed households, 1 047 were households with children aged under five years while 3 926 were households recommended for food baskets.

She said 1 769 households had three to five occupants, while 358 had six to eight, and 80 people were households with nine to 10 people. Ms Dikai stated that her office was targeting 'hustlers' (low income earners who are highly affected by the lockdown).

“We are cognisant of the fact that there is a general concern that there are some members of the community that are complaining that the social workers do not visit their households.

Our targets are low income families and those that stay in the 'locations', where we know they were dependent on selling airtime, working in hair salons and bars, among others,” she said.

The chief social worker said that their intention was to keep assessing and give the beneficiaries the food baskets without delay. END