16 Feb 2021

Gender Affairs Department is concerned about the increase in recorded cases of Gender Based Violence (GVB) in the Serowe sub-district.

Chairperson of Serowe Administrative Authority (SAA), Mr Lesedi Phuthego, who was officially opening Serowe Sub-district Council meeting held in Serowe on Monday, said such a development called for stakeholder collaboration to resolve social ills such as GBV in the community.

He said as per the Botswana police district No.2 data, 53 cases of defilement and 71 cases of rape were recorded from October to December 2020.

Mr Phuthego stated that for their part, the Gender Affairs Department played an active role through Botshabelo-jwa Sechaba (BJS) multi-sectorial committee in partnership with Botswana police and minister’s fraternal to fight GBV.

He said one of the main objectives of the committee was to create strong stakeholder collaboration  geared towards creating a platform for addressing GBV in the district.

He appealed to councillors and various departments to render this committee the needed support. 

The chairperson also noted that the department commemorated International Men’s Day and 16 Days of Activism Against Violence on Women and Children in partnership with Botshabelo-jwa-Sechaba, where 1 206 people were reached on GBV and the domestic violence act sensitisation.

He, however, indicated that the country was plagued with misfortunes of COVID-19, as positive cases continued to rise with more lives being lost and businesses failing.

‘’I urge all of you to work together in order to fight this virus and GBV. 

We can only achieve this if we play our part by staying safe, and continue adhering to COVID-19 protocols, in order to curb the spread of the virus’’, he said.

Councillor Phuthego stated that as a way of reviving the ailing economy, which had been affected by COVID-19, the government introduced Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan in order to extend financial support to businesses through the industry support facility programme.

Concerning crop production, the chairperson briefed councillors that with regards to the ploughing season, two tonnes of maize and 15.51 tonnes of sorghum seeds were distributed to 1 016 farmers in his area. 

He said an area of 305.46 hectares was ploughed and measuring was also on-going. 

With regards to individual fencing, the department received 53 applications, none of which had been approved due to the suspension of the programme due to funds shortage, he said. ends