01 Jun 2022

Cases of domestic child abuse remain a challenge in Chobe.

This was revealed by Chobe District Council chairperson, Councillor Amos Mabuku at the opening of a four-day full council meeting on Tuesday.

He said to date 61 cases had been reported, 25 of them being defilement, 18 child neglect, three rape, five indecent assault and 10 common assault cases.

He said the cases called for a multi-sectoral approach to enhance and strengthen collaboration.

Mr Mabuku said from August to September social welfare officers would undergo a revised psycho-social therapy training in Motlhabaneng through the support of Ark and Mark Trust - a charitable organisation that focuses on children at risk.

Still on issues affecting children, Mr Mabuku said the issue of 24  Chobe Junior Secondary School learners who were awarded X grade in the last Junior Certificate Examinations had been resolved.

He explained that investigations revealed that the learners were erroneously graded for subjects they were not pursing.

Following proper grading eight, of the learners were admitted to senior secondary school while the other 16 did not meet the cut-off point.

On primary school feeding, Mr Mabuku said just over P1 million was spent onthe programme between January and March this year.

He said the programme continued, albeit with challenges of recent price escalations and food shortages.

Regarding the 2022 Population and Housing Census preliminary results, he said Chobe District population grew by 1.8 per cent  - from 23 347 to 28 388  - with Kazungula among the villages with a population of over 5 000 as it recorded 8 642.

He explained that Kazungula growth could be due to expansion of industries and spill-over of people from Kasane and those seeking accommodation and job opportunities in the area.

He added Kasane recorded a zero per cent growth rate, which was attributable to loss of jobs during COVID-19 lockdowns. However, he said that while results had been checked and verified, they were based on data that had not been fully edited and processed and therefore was subject to change.

On health issues, Mr Mabuku said there were challenges with respect to drug availability in primary health care units.

He said as at end of April the district was at 51 per cent, which was a decrease of two per cent from February stock levels.

He said micro-procurement from private suppliers was ongoing and the Ministry of Health had partnered with Botswana Public Officers Medical Aid Scheme to accord Batswana opportunity to get drugs from private pharmacies.

Touching on citizen empowerment, Mr Mabuku said as of March 2022, Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) had mentored several SMMEs which generated a total turnover of P3.88 million and created 15 jobs.

Mr Mabuku complained that Chobe residents had not taken up the opportunity to keep wildlife in their fields as per an initiative launched in April last year by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. He said Chobe had submitted only three applications. Mr Mabuku said the district recorded a total of 128 incidents of human-wildlife conflict mainly due to elephants, which constituted 58 per cent of the encounters.

Lions were responsible for 20.3 per cent, buffaloes 5.5 per cent while others recorded less than five per cent.  He said so far P316 752.35 had been disbursed in compensation to 125 cases.

A total of P1.4 million was allocated for compensation. On other developments Mr Mabuku told the full council meeting that consultancy designs for Kasane stadium were complete and erection of an electric fence was on-going.

He said the tender for construction of the turf had already been awarded and construction would commence once a borehole water point had been identified.

Discussions between council and the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture concerning other components of the project were on-going, including constructing a bigger stadium, he said. BOPA