18 Mar 2014

The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Mr Shaw Kgathi has told Parliament that Youth Development Fund (YDF) loans are not insured.

Mr Kgathi said the fund’s beneficiaries and monitoring officers were required to have full commitment to ensure that supported projects were successful.

Answering a parliamentary question on Monday, March 17, the minister said when beneficiaries pass on before repaying the loan component of YDF, government had the option of identifying a sibling who is still a youth and willing to take over the project and its liabilities, or recouping the project equipment for public auction or issuance to another young person.

Mr Kgathi denied that government had incurred losses from the YDF.

“This is because in the few instances where young persons passed on before meeting their YDF loan obligations, either siblings were identified to run the projects, or the equipment bought for the project was recouped and sold by public auction to defray expenses. There have also been instances where the equipment was issued to other young persons who needed it for their projects. The latter cannot be considered a loss to government because the main idea is youth development and empowerment,” said Minister Kgathi.

The MP for Kweneng East, Maj. Gen. Moeng Pheto had asked the minister to state the position of government regarding young entrepreneurs who access loans through the fund and then pass on before completing their loan repayments. ENDS