07 May 2024

 While all Batswana, regardless of their earnings, are eligible for household (residential plot) free electricity connection dispensation, the disparity comes into play on unwired houses.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting addressed by Member of Parliament for Takatokwane, Mr Tshoganetso Leuwe in Motokwe, Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) official, Mr Thatayaone Tubisane said for electricity to be connected to an unwired house, a ready box is required.

This is a portable pre-wired gadget that is used as an alternative means of connecting electricity without wiring the house.

Mr Tubisane said the ready box was offered to people earning P2 400 and above at a certain fee, while those earning below P2 400 and the unemployed were not charged for the gadget.

However, he said upon conventional wiring of the house, the ready box would be returned to BPC.

Mr Tubisane, who called on Batswana to take advantage of the dispensation, said the ready box would come handy in to those who had not yet wired their houses.

He said government committed funds to pay BPC to implement the dispensation and improve access to electricity.

When electricity is connected through a ready box, the customer would have to use extensions to connect his or her appliances Mr Tubisane said and added that as long as one had a certificate for residential plot and valid Omang, they were eligible for free electricity connection dispensation.

Mr Tubisane cautioned that children should not be allowed to play near ground wires or power poles as there might be a possibility of electrical shock that could lead to casualties.

He warned that peeing on an electrical pole was a life threatening risk as it might cause electric shock because electricity could flow through urine.

Kgosi Batho Tshoso of Motokwe lambasted Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) for failing avail adequate water supply in the village yet the corporation long promised to deal with the matter by equipping one of the boreholes, something that had not materialised.

He threatened to take legal action against WUC. ENDS