21 Nov 2013

The Department of Gender Affairs has eight outstations in the areas of Maun, Ghanzi, Tsabong, Kanye, Serowe, Selebi Phikwe, Francistown and Kasane.

Answering a question in Parliament on behalf of the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Minister Shaw Kgathi said each of these stations was serviced by only two officers:  the senior gender officer (D4) and gender officer (C2).

He said the staffing levels were as per the current establishment for the entire department, which was a total of 31 officers including the director and the deputy director. He said due to manpower and financial ceilings it had not been possible to increase the number of officers in each station.

Minister Kgathi noted that in order to facilitate the attainment of the goals of the department, the Maun office had engaged three interns. He said the interns had been inducted on the functions and operations of the department.

He however said with the bad terrain, the Maun office had been allocated a Nissan Patrol vehicle, which was deemed appropriate for the terrain. Nonetheless, he said, the office was experiencing some challenges as the vehicle was at CTO for repairs.

The Member of Parliament for Okavango, Mr Bagalatia Arone had asked the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs why the gender affairs department in Maun was serviced by only two officers and how they were expected to achieve their departmental goals in view of the vastness and bad terrain of the region. Ends