14 Mar 2021

Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU), has partnered with Credinvest International Botswana to build houses for its members.

In an interview with BOPA recently, Board chairperson of BOPEU Services, Mr Mosalagae Tlhako said providing housing for members had been the union’s desire for a long time.

He said they realised that mortgage loans were expensive, hence the initiative to provide housing for their members. 

“Our members pay almost double the value of houses they bought when repaying their mortgage loans,” he added.

On this project, he said members were going to pay the exact price of the house. 

“For example if a house is P400 000, the buyer is going to pay this amount spread over a period of eight to 13 years,” he said, pointing out that the system of payment would be rent to buy.

Mr Tlhako indicated that they had entered into an agreement with Credinvest International Botswana to build houses on their behalf. “The company had already acquired a piece of land in Gaborone Central for this project,” he said.

Credinvest International Botswana, he said, would build 5 000 fully furnished apartments and standalone townhouses. 

He said the houses would comprise of two-bedroomed apartments, as well as two and three-bedroomed standalone town houses. A mall, he said, would also be constructed to bring all the necessary amenities to proximity.

He pointed out that the company had the capacity to build around 240 houses a month, adding that when the construction starts, it would take around 12 months to complete.

Mr Tlhako said construction would only start once members had shown interest by registering with them, noting that the union would soon communicate with members on how registration would be conducted.

He indicated that the union’s desire was to roll out the programme to other areas, depending on the demand.

Pertaining to the issue of transfers, he indicated that the tenants could use the houses in any way they saw fit. 

“If you are transferred out of Gaborone, you can rent out the house,” he said. 

Some members, he said, had shown interest in buying the houses purely for investment.

He urged members to buy houses, noting that it was important to own property that would be useful in the long run, adding that they were in the process of coming up with ways to assist those who would not afford to buy. Ends