21 Apr 2020

A consortium of small businesses in Tsabong has donated about P20 000 worth of food hampers towards the COVID-19 Relief Fund.

The food will be distributed to Bokspits, Rappelspaan, Vaalhoek and Struizendam villages, collectively known as BORAVAST cluster.

Speaking in an interview after presenting the donation to the Kgalagadi District Commissioner’s office recently, a representative of the local business community Ms Tuelo Kapeko said they were responding to government’s call to assist the needy during COVID-19 pandemic by coming together and buying 38 food packages worth P440 each.

Ms Kapeko noted that the local business community selected the communities that were hardest hit by poverty and were located far from Tsabong.

He noted that the villages did not have sufficient access to supermarkets, had limited economic activity and were classified as special development needs community under the RADP.

Thus, he noted, the food hampers would be accordingly distributed to the less privileged following guidance by social workers.

She added that they carried out the initiative collectively for the first time as local businesses and they would build up on the corporate social responsibility partnership to continue to assist the needy members of the community in future.

For his part, Tsabong Sub-District Council Secretary Mr Jimmy Mackenzie appreciated the donation, which he said would be helpful.

He said the donation by the business community was one of the targeted responses to COVID-19 Relief Fund to assist communities who lived very far away from Tsabong.

“So far six families have been identified at Struizendam and one in Bokspits. Other villages in the BORAVAST cluster had one needy family each. These ones were emergencies but we are still going to go back and give the other needy ones,” he said.

The Kgalagadi District Commissioner Mr Patson Dibotelo appreciated the donation, which he said was one of the donations contributed towards COVID-19 Relief Fund set up by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

He said Batswana continued to come forth with donations in cash and in kind. The food hampers, he said, would be immediately distributed by the Tsabong Sub-District Council under the Social and Community Development (S&CD) section.

Mr Dibotelo said some of the previous donations towards the COVID-19 Relief Fund were from the Kgalagadi South Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Sam Brooks who has donated a cow and a borehole to be used by Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) to draw water for the community.

Another donation was from Gakhibane village chief Mr Giel Jacobs who donated a cow, Mr Stein Kefaletswe donated 10 five litres of sanitisers, Mr Sidney Baitsile has donated P300, Alpha Dunes Holdings donated P5000, Mr Parvez Dhola donated P1 000 while Choppies Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Ramachandran Ottappathu donated 150 tonnes of food hampers to be distributed in Tsabong, Kang and Ghanzi. 

Mr Dibotelo encouraged more people to come forth to donate both cash and in kind towards the COVID-19 relief fund. ENDS