15 Oct 2013

President Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama has said his government discourages the idea of engaging foreigners for jobs that Batswana are qualified for.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Tati Siding on October 10, President Khama said it was not true that government shunned foreigners, but it was its responsibility to ensure that foreign nationals added value to Botswana’s economy by bringing expertise that locals lacked.

He stressed that it was the duty of government to ensure that the economy was in the hands of Batswana before considering foreigners. He also discouraged people from getting government funding such as Youth Development Fund (YDF) and employing foreigners at the expense of locals.

President Khama explained that government’s empowerment programmes were created for Batswana who had expertise so that they could create employment opportunities for others. He said there was a tendency of some Batswana to prefer foreigners over Batswana, adding that such should be discontinued. He said foreigners were welcome in Botswana as investors as they would be boosting the economy.

However, he noted that there were Batswana in different countries around the world and there was no way that foreigners could not be allowed into the country. He was responding to a concern by a youth, Ms Maxine Makwaeba, who said she was funded through YDF to start a salon but the foreigners she wanted to employ were denied work permits.

Ms Makwaeba said if denied work permits, the foreigners did people’s hair at a cheaper rates in the streets. Another resident, Mr Isaac Mhotsha, said because the government’s tractors were not sufficient and most of the ploughing was done by private tractor, they should be allowed to plough even if they did not have all the required farming implements.

He explained that in the last ploughing season, government tractors ploughed only 66.88 hectares while private owned ones ploughed 1 251.7 hectares. Mr Mhotsha said in the coming ploughing season, 134 farmers had registered in Tati Siding, 166 in Ditladi, 40 in Shashe Bridge and seven in Patayamatebele and that he was sceptical that with the new Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) requirements, they would all be able to plough.

For her part, Ms Pearl Mosimanyana appealed to the Minister of Minerals Energy and Water Resources to consider having the water connection fee paid in installments just like the electricity connection fee. Ms Mosimanyana said in some areas where the pipeline exceeded the 50 metre standard length that was charged P1 500, applicants were expected to pay P27 more for every metre, which sometimes resulted in exhorbitant amounts.

Ms Dorcus Masunga, a member of the Tati Siding Development Trust lamented that since her committee was elected last year, it had not implemented any project because of lack of land. She said the trust planned to build factory shells, but due to lack of land the idea could not be implemented.

In response, Minister Kitso Mokaila said the water connection fee could be paid in installments and the connection done when payment had been finalised. Tati Land Board secretary, Mr Abednico Maphuru, explained that they would sub-divide the free zone enterprise in Tati Siding and the trust and other village committees that had applied will be considered.

The Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi, explained that since the inception of ISPAAD in 2008, tractor owners had been asking for postponement of the implementation of the requirement of having all farming implements to benefit from the programme, and if the ministry continues to heed their pleas, such will never be implemented.

He said should the tractor owners ensure the availability of all implements as required by ISPAAD then farmers will be sure of maximised yields. ENDS