20 Jun 2022

It is wrong of government and pension guarantors to cut the monthly payment received by pensioners upon their death. 

A Selebi-Phikwe resident, Mr Kemoitse Mmekwa, suggested to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution yesterday, that instead the law should provide for the payment to be transferred to the pensioner’s surviving spouse, especially as it may have been the only source of income for the family. 

“Batho fa ba nyalane mme yo mongwe mo go bone a amogela pension, fa go diragala gore yo o amogelang pension a tlhokafale, pension le yone e tlaa bo e e swa. Keletso ke gore e tshwanetse e fudusediwe mo go yo o tshelang gore a tle a sale a otla bana ka yone, ka e bile fa gongwe go a bo go ne go lebilwe yone fela,” he said. 

Meanwhile Mr Baphuthi Goshetwang of Selebi-Phikwe West proposed that Botswana’s laws should allow adopted children the choice to opt out of their adoption once they attained the age of majority. Mr Goshetwang said that since their adoption was often done without their consent, adopted children should be allowed to later on in life legally detach from their adoptive families if they so wished.

 “Adoption laws should have room for adopted children to choose to leave their adoptive families. 

They get adopted while still minors, so once they are able to make their own decisions, they should be allowed to decide whether or not to leave their families,” he said. 

Ms Leungo Mathaio proposed the introduction of child care allowance as an incentive for people to have more children in order to contribute to population growth. 

Her compatriot, Ms Tsholofelo Samboko called on the law to protect orphaned children. 

Ms Samboko said due to lack of adequate protection, greedy relatives often dispossessed such children of their parents’ property leaving them destitute. Another resident, Mr Kabo Peloetletse asked that recipients of the old age pension should be assessed and paid the allowance according to their needs. 

He said unlike the current blanket handout to all pensioners, made-to-measure payments would be a welcome development that would help cushion beneficiaries better by ensuring that their basic needs were met. 

While a handful of residents said the death penalty should be retained, one Mr Abaleng Ketsitlile differed, saying it should instead be outlawed. 

Mr Ketsitlile said the momentary pain that a death row inmate was subjected to during execution was not a strong enough form of punishment, but that the convict’s family suffered the more as they had to deal with a lifetime of grief. 

“Fa motho a bolaile yo mongwe a bo o mmolaya, ga o utluse ene botlhoko, o o utlusa ba ga bone botlhoko. Jaanong ke eng o tshwanetse wa ipusolosetsa molato wa motho mo go ba ba setseng? Gape fa motho a sule ga gona botlhoko jo a bo utlwang,” he said. In his submissions, Mr Nzwaligwa Nzwaligwa proposed a P1.5 million compensation for workers who died on duty. 

“There should be compensation for those who lose their lives while on duty, especially in the mines. 

To date, sponsors of the World War are still paying people who fought in World War 2; even next door in South Africa, people who worked in asbestos mines are being paid. Sadly, in Botswana people die in mines and there is nothing families can do save to accept the plight of their loved ones.” ends