09 Feb 2021

Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Tumiso Rakgare has lauded this year’s budget speech for presenting a realistic picture of the situation faced by the country.

In his contribution to the 2021/2022 budget proposals on Monday, Mr Rakgare said the budget was pragmatic in acknowledging the challenges faced by the country and in working on practical solutions.

Mr Rakgare said the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Thapelo Matsheka had spelt out that while the youth continued to face challenges such as unemployment. 

He said government would continue to offer support to the youth through educational scholarships and funding of entrepreneurial projects such as the Youth Development Fund (YDF).

The minister further said time had come for a conversation on whether people whose income was high deserved to have their children sponsored by the state with tertiary education tuition or monthly stipends or whether such parents should assist government by covering some of the costs.

Mr Rakgare added that the country’s creative sector and sporting codes had been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said had a negative impact on the livelihood of many youth. 

He said his ministry would continue to look for solutions and means to ensure that over time artistic creatives and sportspersons were able to return to participating in their vocations.

On developments, Mr Rakgare said paying tax amounts to citizens investing in their country’s development was good, but that corrupt practices in the implementation of projects robbed Batswana of a return on investment.

He said stringent measures should be taken against those individuals involved in corruption during the implementation of development projects.

Mr Rakgare said in his Mogoditshane constituency he had realised that an excessive amount of money had been spent on an ablution block at a primary school which he said was fiscally irresponsible.

He further said despite Mogoditshane having a large population and being adjacent to Gaborone, his constituency still struggled with poor development.

He cited the example of roads being in a poor state, and that there were no accident and emergency services in the two clinics in Mogoditshane, which he said also lacked midwifery facilities. 

Mr Rakgare further said Ledumadumane lacked coherent water supply, appealing to the relevant ministry to attend to the matter.ends