11 Apr 2022

Church leaders have been advised to broaden their outreach teachings to communties.

The church according to Assistant General Manager of Orapa and Letlhakane Mines Mr Ditiro Lentswe  is crucial in maintaining the moral fabric of the society.

Therefore he said church leaders should not confine their teachings within the church only.

As such leaders of different churches through Ministers Fraternal were commended for not only limiting themselves to the pulpit but coming to the party to address social issues, model behaviours as well as lives of people.

Mr Lentswe was speaking at Orapa Ministers’ Fraternal meeting on Saturday.

He said by extending its role,  the ministerial fraternal in this way reclaimed its role of being an institution of healing as well as a vehicle of social transformation.

Mr Lentswe said Ministers Fraternal objectives were aligned to Debswana’s pillar of “making life brilliant, the company’s strategic pillar of happy people and to make Orapa a safe place to work and live.”

It is Debswana’s commitment to make an impactful contribution towards employees’ wellbeing.

“It is also our commitment to make Orapa a great place to live and work, where people move and worship freely, “ he said.

Debswana  he said had drafted and implemented a number of policies and procedures relating to Alcohol and Drug abuse, Violence at home and Sexual harassment or any form or harassment in the work place.

“It has come to our realisation that we need to change our approach towards our employees in the workplace as an organisation,” he emphasized.

Mr Lentswe said it was critical to establish the cause of an employee’s conduct in the workplace as opposed to an abrupt decision to dismiss employee from the workplace.

Mr Lentswe said Debswana aimed to create an environment in which employees would not be afraid to share their problems  and the company would be provided with  psychosocial support.

The issue of Psycho social safety, could be fully realised with partnerships such as this one, citing a new component in Debswana’s safety strategy, that sought to tackle the social issues such as all the stressors from family, relationships, financial challenges and Gender Based Violence.

When giving welcome remarks the vice chairperson of Ministers ‘Fraternal Orapa Pastor Jan Tshekiso said they were committed to have a significant role in modeling and ensuring the wellbeing of the community.

The aim, he said was to ensure that they could continue to see productivity and flourishing of Debswana operation within the environment in which they live.

Pastor Tshekiso said the objective of Ministers’Fraternal was to provide spiritual guidance within the township and ensure smooth registration and administration of churches existence in the township.

He said it was also intended to establish and participate in partnership commitments with town leadership, in collaboration with appropriate company sections through provision of free counseling services to community and employees.

While Councilor Balopi Chilume said there was a  need for transformation and revitalisation of social programmes in Orapa, noting that the social aspect of Orapa was low in standards, citing that there was no children’s recreational park.

Further, he said the church said must be a corporate entity noting that churches must have empowerment and wellness programmes.

Mr Chilume said a church must also be seen to have a footprint in areas where there is abject poverty.

He stated that children must be taught Christian values at a tender age, noting that children’s ministry was crucial in building and growing the church.

The councilor pleaded with Debswana to subsidise rentals saying a church was not a profit making organisation.

Kgosi Tsholofelo Seisa of Orapa expressed concern that there was a high number of dysfunctional marriage cases reported at her office, that required concerted efforts from the leadership.

She stated that the social ills afflicting the township could addressed through joint cooperation with Ministers ‘Fraternal.

For his part station commander of Orapa Police station Mr Kebaitse Molefe said Orapa police had 13 cases of Rape in 2021, 12 cases of defilement, 37 cases of possession of drugs and 25 cases of drunken driving. ENDS