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24 May 2009 18:32
Edition 460 22 - 29 May, 2009
Testing the brave . . . the Maun 4x4 Challenge last Saturday was a real test of machine and drivers. The annual event, at Sitatunga quarries, was characterised by thrills and spills, as these two pictures show. Competitors from Francistown joined those from Maun in showing off their driving skills.
High food costs
The government wants to know why food prices have not come down even though oil and fuel prices have done so.
President Ian Khama told the High Level Consultancy Council in Gaborone last week that it was an area of specific concern.
He said: One of the positives that we have witnessed during the global recession is the reduction in oil and fuel prices. When fuel prices increase food and other prices increase on the basis of increased transportation costs.
I would expect that the reduction of fuel prices should help to facilitate reduction in food and retail prices of consumer items.
He asked BOCCIM, in conjunction with the Consumer Protection Unit of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to examine and investigate why there are continuing price increases.
The president of BOCCIM, Modiri Mbaakanyi, echoed Khama's concern about the rise in consumer prices.
In Maun this week, there were noticeable price increases for foodstuffs such as milk and other products.
Some businessmen claimed they were paying high prices for transportation to Maun and placed the blame for cost increases at the door of transport companies.
KHAMA INSULT EVIDENCE
A shop manager denied to a packed courtroom this week that he had insulted President Ian Khama by uttering words which ridiculed the Head of State.
Maun Choppies manager Unni Bhaskaran has denied the allegation he used words to an employee that in terms of the law ridiculed the Standard of the President.
Bhaskaran is said to have told Elizabeth Anderson, who was an employee of Choppies Supermarket at the time, that she had to ask for permission to go to the toilet from 'Ian. Bhaskaran was represented by Charles Tlagae. of Tlagae Attorneys, Maun, and Plato Gaoboi, of Gaoboi Attorneys, Gaborone . The State was represented by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions principal prosecutor, Pascal Mhandu.
Bhaskaran told the court that he had been framed and reported by his former employees just because they were bitter after losing their jobs. He said he did not know the president of Botswana, adding that he cannot insult someone he does not know.
He said on July 18, 2008, he found his store's employees holding big sticks and telling him that he was not going to open the shop. He said they were complaining about low wages and further said Choppies was making a big profit.
He said after a while police came and asked employees to open the shop. The MP for Maun West, Ronald Ridge, and Maun police station commander Robson Maleka addressed employees.
Bhaskaran said he told those who were on strike that he was not dealing with salaries as he was not a Human Resources Manager.
He said on July 31, 2008, the Human Resources Manager came from Gaborone and gave about eight employees letters of transfer to other branches shops around the country, adding that the employees turned down the transfers and then agreed to leave the employ of Choppies.
Bhaskaran also said he was told by some employees that state witnesses Tlhalefang Makgetho and Elizabeth Anderson said they wanted to kick out a bull out of this country.
When cross examining, Mhandu asked Bhaskaran whether it was the first time Ridge had addressed Choppies employees' problems and was told that sometime in June Ridge had been at the store addressing issues with employees.
Mhandu also asked the accused whether he knew that the conversation in which the insult was allegedly levelled at the President was on July 18, 2008, before the termination letters and Bhaskaran replied he only knew about the alleged insult at the beginning of August when he was approached by police officers.
Bhaskaran called two witnesses who are currently employees of Choppies
Gakepina Tembwe testified that former Choppies employees framed the accused as she said they said they wanted him to be deported. She had not heard the offensive words and also there was no regulation that prevented employees from seeking an advance from the store manager.
The other witness was Atsile Makgetho. She testified that she had also never heard the accused uttering the words to Anderson and only found out about the alleged insults from The Ngami Times and BTV.
When she was asked by Mhandu when she first heard about the insult, Makgetho changed her statement and said it was the first time she had done so when in court. The state also called four witnesses, one of which was Elizabeth Anderson. She said she once asked for an advance from Bhaskaran sometime in April, 2008, and he told her to go and ask advance from Ian.
She said she then asked him why he said that and he replied by saying he knew that they went to the Maun Kgotla to report him to the President.
Anderson further said the accused told her he was told this by his friends at the shop. In April, 2008, she had asked for permission from the accused to go to the toilet and he told her to go and ask permission to do so from Ian. She said she was with Makgetho when this was said.
She also said sometimes when employees asked permission from their supervisors, they (the supervisors) turned round and denied ever having given permission, adding that that is why she preferred to ask permission from the manager.
Anderson also said she never reported the matter to the police but rather asked Ridge to address the issue. Anderson claimed the accused did not treat his employees equally and used abusive words when talking to some of them.
She also said reports were made to the Labour department but had heard nothing about the reports.
Anderson said employees embarked on industrial action on July 18, 2008, and that they invited Ridge, the police, Labour department and the media.
She then again told the court that she once asked for an advance and to go to the toilet and the accused person allegedly told her to go and ask from Ian'. According to Anderson, she was not bitter that she had parted with Choppies as she talked about the insult before she was dismissed from work. She said she was served with a letter of transfer, which according to her was not done correctly. She said the Human Resource Manager, Ishmael Farouk, told them that they wanted to cause trouble for the accused and they were given six months salary.
Cross examining, Gaoboi asked Anderson whether she is aware that they framed the accused as they once said they wanted him to leave the country?
Anderson said the accused cannot admit to having insulted the president as he is in trouble and was then told by Gaoboi that she involved politicians. Her response was that she told Ridge, as he was representing them and the President as they had told the Labour office about their issues but nothing was done.
Evidence which was led in court about asking permission from Ian to go to the toilet and for an advance was not challenged by the defence.
Another witness, who corroborated Anderson's evidence, was Tlhalefang Makgetho, a former employee of Choppies.
She said she heard the accused uttering the words to Anderson, whom she said was her friend. She denied framing Bhaskaran.
Maun police station commander Robson Maleka testified he was at Choppies on July 18, 2008, during the strike and revealed that Anderson had said that sometime in April of that year the accused person uttered words to her that she had to go and ask permission from Ian. Maleka said as there were other police officers there, he assigned Golebaone Magawe to conduct investigations.
Magawe said he was at Choppies during the strike and he heard Anderson saying that Bhaskaran had uttered words that ridiculed the Standard of the President. He was then assigned to conduct an investigation and he later warned and cautioned the accused about the alleged offence.
When asked by Gaoboi what he found during his investigations, Magawe replied that he discovered that there was an insult made and that's why he warned and cautioned the accused.
Bhaskaran will appear for judgment on June 22.
Two great successes for safari industry
Jack's Camp in the Makgadikgadi pans has been named as Africa's best safari camp in the Good Safari Guide Awards.
Not to be outdone, safari company &Beyond has also been honoured internationally. Jack's won four accolades at the Tourism Indaba which took place in Durban, South Africa, recently. The other three awards are Best Safari Camp in Southern Africa, Best Ecological Safari Camp and Best Safari Guiding Team. The purpose of the Good Safari Guide Awards is for experienced tour operators, journalists and other travel professionals who have visited many safari camps and lodges to nominate them for an award in the relevant category. Categories cover many disciplines. The awards are more about excellence then just being very good or better than most. In celebration of Earth month, Treehugger.com, a website dedicated to sustainability, has named the &Beyond Savuti Under Canvas camp as the best resort in the travel and nature category of its first annual Best of Green Awards. In addition, the May 2009 issue of the top-ranked Condé Nast Traveler (United States) magazine honours the company's Xaranna Okavango Delta Camp in their Hot List of the world's top new 140 hotels.
In a list that spans 53 countries, Xaranna Okavango Delta camp is mentioned under Botswana.
The lodge, hailed for its exciting décor, received a double-flame (hotter) rating.
Chief worried about slow developments
By Basadi Morokotso
SEHITWA - The Senior Chief's Representative in Sehitwa, Boitiro Dithapo, has expressed worry with the slow pace of developments in his village
He cannot stop wondering when people there should expect to have a Sub-District now that they have a state of the art police station and a Sub Land board.
He said the road leading to the police station is also an eyesore because of the many pot-holes which the Department of Roads has failed to attend to.
Last week, while preparations for the official opening of the police station were at an advanced stage, Dithapo said villagers used buckets and wheelbarrows of sand in an attempt to fill potholes.
Not long ago, he said, villagers had requested the construction of roads within the village - one leading to the village clinic, another to the community junior school and another to the police station.
The village was however never formally informed as to whether their proposal has been disqualified or not.
He said now that the Local Police is to merge with The Botswana Police Service, villagers are expecting good service delivery, but decried the fact that this might mean there is going to be accommodation problems because the Local Police always fend for themselves in terms of accommodation. The chief said also that although the police are doing a remarkable job, they still have to work hard on their response time because many times people have given up making reports as they are in most cases told to wait for the next available vehicle that could go to a crime scene.
He said the scarcity of police vehicles should thoroughly be looked into because there are a lot of things to be attended to, including the arrests of wayward youth who roam the streets at night from night clubs.
He said however that after approaching the station commander on the issue, there has been a drastic change.
Khama admits his aversions
President Ian Khama appears to have for the first time given a concrete and illuminating reason as to why the country's liquor laws have been changed. And he has added smoking to it as well.
He said in a recent interview with the newspaper The Voice that there was no personal family tragedy which affected him in terms of alcohol consumption.
Replying to a question on a perceived family tragedy, the President said: What family tragedy? Listen, I have, for as long as I can remember, detested alcohol. Of all the social ills I can think of, alcohol is the root cause.
Rapes, the spread of HIV, road accidents... You can be sober and driving to a wedding and some drunkard would come and end your life. I hate alcohol.
Even people who smoke, I detest. Drinking and smoking don't bring any value into people's lives. This has nothing to do with family tragedy.
The straight-from-the-shoulder answer sums up the man. His view has not before been publicly explained and now that we know, the country should realise drinking and smoking will certainly be targets of the new government after this year's elections.
Pete Smith
It is fitting that 10 years after his death, the University of Botswana's Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC) in Maun is celebrating the life of one of our greatest hydrologists and explorers, Pete Smith, who pioneered biodiversity conservation in the Okavango Delta.
He did much to open up the wonderful world of the Delta to not only scientists and researchers but also to the ordinary man in the street.
However it was not only one world that he explored but a myriad of worlds that make up that pristine wetland, now a Ramsar conservation site. A quiet, shy and retiring man, Pete Smith unraveled many of the mysteries of the delta.
He brought a new understanding of conservation to the people who populate the region and in turn inspired many to take a greater interest in their habitat.
We salute Pete Smith, and congratulate HOORC on presenting this week the story of his life for public consumption.
Ever since we published our exclusive story about an earthquake in northern Botswana on May 1 there has been a marked interest in such seismic occurrences.
According to a website we peruse from time to time, there has been no aftershock as a result of the quake, which took place 10km below ground about 140km north-east of Maun.
Shuffle has also received confirmation that the quake was felt in Maun. A resident says she turned to her family and said that was an earth tremor. They all looked at her blankly and told her she was wrong.
The Ngami Times came out the next week with a diagram of where the quake took place and that was that! The interest in the website has shown that many parts of the world are regularly rattled by earthquakes many of them of about a 4 magnitude. Iran, the Pacific islands (particularly New Guinea and nearby New Britain), China, South America and the United States are regularly rocked in one way or the other.
For instance, as Shuffle writes this piece there was a quake off Honshu, Japan, measuring 4.8. and that was only seven minutes ago which tells you how earthquake watchers are on the ball, so to speak!
In one 24 hour period recently there were two earthquakes in eastern Iran, three in New Britain, two in Guam (in the Pacific), two in Fiji and one each affecting Argentine, Chile, Bolivia, Rumania and the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.
Not bad for a world that seems to be decidedly wobbly these days!
Every now and again a newspaper headline catches the eye because it is so far off the truth.
Take the one in a local newspaper last week which proclaimed across its front page Economy not yet in recession. A bold statement indeed even if it did sum up the annual report of the Bank of Botswana.
The bold truth surely is that the recession is well and truly here. There can be no doubt about it if one considers our diamond sales are way down and copper mines have closed, and business is limping along (ask any businessman).
This makes one wonder.
Every Chinese year is known as the Year of something or other.
In 2007 we had the Chinese Year of the Chicken and what happened? The bird (avian) flu pandemic devastated parts of Asia. The next year it was the Year of the Horse and equine influenza decimated Australian racing.
And now in 2009 we have the Chinese Year of the Pig, so what happens? Swine flu pandemic kills hundreds of pigs and many humans around the globe.
What on earth are we going to do next year as 2010 marks the Chinese Year of the Cock. Confucius says what could possibly go wrong?
* Did you know? About two hundred babies are born worldwide every minute; ie. 3.3 every second.
**
* Quote of the day: Have you ever noticed? Anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone driving faster than you is a maniac.
That's a good quote for Maun!
Pete Smith commemoration gets underway
Maun conservationists and townspeople have this week had the opportunity to salute pioneering Okavango delta conservationist Pete Smith who died 10 years ago.
Smith's maps, papers and other material he gathered during a 40-year journey through the Okavango delta is being commemorated at various events.
On Monday night the official opening of an exhibition of Smith's annotated maps at the African Arts and Images gallery at Maun airport was attended by about 150 people, and tomorrow (Saturday) there will the unveiling of a memorial at his former home on the Catholic Mission property next to the Sedia Riverside Hotel and the official opening of the University of Botswana's Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre at the UB campus in Maun of the Pete Smith Herbarium.
Smith joined the government service in various environmental capacities in 1953, first at Pandamatenga and then at Maun.
He was employed as a tsetse fly control officer in 21959 transferring as an ecologist to the Agriculture department and 14 years later to Water Affairs as a hydrologist.
He retired in 1991 but remained an active consultant. He received the MBE from Queen Elizabeth II and Botswana's Presidential Certificate of Honour.
Smith died on May 20, 1999.
Pictured here is Christoph Holzapfel, the company's Operations Manager, with some of the employees at Eagle Island Camp during the share certificate ceremony
Employees get share in top tourism company
Employees of the prestigious Orient Express Safaris company have each received shares in the company.
This move places each permanent employee in a position of owning shares on the New York Stock Exchange listing of Orient Express hotels. This incorporates all 51 units the company owns worldwide.
This share programme enables each employee to actively take ownership of the unit in which they work. With the possibility of increased dividend payouts and follow-on share allocation, it encourages each individual to look after the company as if it is their own says Christoph Holzapfel, Operations Manager for the group.
In line with our social responsibility programme, this share programme will enhance loyalty and commitment from employees, and in turn reward them with long term financial benefits as well as nurturing the basics of financial responsibility.
Botswana's first annual book fair
South African company 30° South Publishers, is to host Botswana's first annual book fair. It says that in these times of economic hardship it is even more important that the publishing and reading of books does not lose the impetus it has gained over the last few decades.Books are the vehicle through which our collective history and ideas are made available to us and especially to our youth, so that they may learn and lead with the knowledge that they are supported by a vast and fundamental knowledge base.
Three four-year-old company says its objective is servicing niche markets in the fields of southern African non-fiction, focusing primarily on history and memoirs. In 2006 the company released a series of pocket guides to South Africa's World Heritage Sites and officially launched the Southbound imprint at the 2007 Cape Town International Book Fair.The Botswana fair is to be known as Book Expo 2009 Gaborone and will be staged from May 29 to 31 at the Fairgrounds in Gaborone. After the success of Lee Gutteridge's The South African Bushveld - a field guide from the Waterberg, Gutteridge has teamed up with Maun-based field guide Tony Reumerman to co-author a photo-identification field guide that includes everything from the Big Five to reptiles and scorpions, flowers, trees, entitled Okavango - a field guide from the Jao and Vumbura concessions.
Khama administration failing Batswana' Moupo
By Boniface Keakabetse
The leader of the Opposition and Botswana National front (BNF) president Otsweletse Moupo says President Ian Khama's leadership of the ruling Botswana Democratic party (BDP) is slowly but surely failing the people.
Speaking at the launch of his party's candidates for the Maun East and the Maun West constituencies at the weekend, Moupo described Khama as a political loner who has turned the governance of this country in to a one man show.
He said prospects of the country's advancement under the current leadership are dim unless the electorate switches political leadership to BNF in the upcoming polls.
Since the 1984 elections, the BDP's appeal has significantly taken a nose dive. When Khama was brought into the BDP it was hoped he will bring back his party's past glories and end internal wrangles and factions but he has failed in all these, said Moupo.
Moupo said the system of Bulela Ditswe has become a Pandora's Box following incidents of cheating and some members becoming disgruntled from the BDP. Right now the BDP want to bring 4 more specially elected women to parliament, a political technique that is meant to soak down the influence of Khama's opponents in the BDP.
He said BDP scored 54 percent popular vote in the 2004 polls a figure he said presented a 5 percent drop from the 57% managed in the 1999 elections.
He said while many political analysts and the media have been creating an illusion that BNF has crumbled and was out the race, he expected it to triumph.
Moupo said current political trends point out that the BDP will score a popular vote of less than 52% 2% down from what it had in 2004. He called on the voters to make use of this and vote for BNF.
History has proved beyond doubt that the BNF is a movement that stands to represent the concerns of the people. In the 1970s, the BNF campaigned for compulsory and free education and for the government to come up with a social programme to help the destitutes.
Moupo said the BNF stands for the interests of the masses and that the BDP had proved itself to be an exclusive club of the rich.
British values against the wall over crooked MPs
A correspondent in Britain reflects on one of the greatest scandals involving the British government for many years.
British fair play, decency, integrity and the instinctive awareness of right and wrong, is being prominently exhibited here by the Honourable and Right Honourable incumbents of the hallowed chambers of Westminster, seat of the Mother of all Parliaments, Cradle of Democracy, oratorical home of Oliver Cromwell, Pitt the Elder and Winston Churchill.
Their actions and deeds are faithfully being recorded by the news sheets, both broad and tabloid, for the information of the voters and taxpayers, on a daily basis.
These revelations are raising the ire of proletariat, who are coining new and colourful names and descriptions for the unelected country's leader and all 650 lesser luminaries. In these hard times of recession, redundancy and weekly visits to the Job Centre for the ritual known here as signing on, those who can no longer afford daily fish and chips and seven pints between visits to Ladbrokes betting shops, as well as those who speak a different kind of English and take the 7.08 from Bognor Regis to Waterloo, are voicing their agitation about £2000 (about P21 000) to clear the moat around a conservative Party member's country manor, and the accepting of £48000 (about P4.9-million) by the custodian of the nation's Constabulary, Revenue and Customs, Immigration while she pays her house-husband £40 000 (about p400 000) a year on the national payroll to be her researcher and charges his pornographic movie videos to the bottomless pit of the MPs allowances scam and feasts off her £400 (about P4 000) a month free food allowance when she isn't at the subsidised Honourable Members' Dining Room overlooking the Thames.
The voters are also perturbed about the few thousands of pounds here, and the many thousands of pounds there, spent in their name for essentials like two plasma-screen TVs and two DVD machines for a one bedroom second home flat in London by a trade unionist from Blackburn whose salary of £64 000 (about P640 000) is enhanced to a total of around £150000 (about P1.5-million) by skilful manipulation of the system, all the while supported and sheltered by the revered Speaker of the House of Commons, whose job it is to police the system, Michael Martin, aka Gorbals Mick, son of a sheet metal worker from Glasgow (renowned, inter alia, for the famous Glasgow Kiss technique of combative aggression or retaliation, depending on who won or lost in the Rangers game).
And so it goes. Everyone of these august people seems to be on the make and on the take. Pool cleaning, tennis court repairs, horse manure for the pastures, bookcases, mortgage subsidies of £800 (about P8 000) a month for years for non-existent mortgages, taxi fares around London for the Speaker's wife to go shopping, married couples who are both MPs both claiming for second home allowances for the same home they share (only £24 000 each, total £48 000 P480 000) - so what's all the fuss about, we are both entitled to it. By the way, one is Education Minister, the other is Treasury Minister each is paid £146 000 (about P1.4-million) a year, plus transport, out-of-pocket allowance, private staff allowance, free food allowance, and who knows what else.)
These are the same true blue Brits who say you can't trust foreigner as those fellers simply don't have an Englishman's sense of honour. They lie, cheat, steal, embezzle, defraud, falsify, you name it!
Floods slow down, no sign of second peak
By Bright Kholi
The wait for the flood waters to reach Maun may be a long one as there are indications that the water is now moving very slowly past Xaxaba village with the levels and discharge at Mohembo decreasing dramatically.
The initial projections were that the water could have reached Maun two weeks ago, but now it looks likely that the flood will take a longer time.
According to Ngurungudla Naidoo, from the Department of Water Affairs, this uncertainty has been a result of the non-occurrence of the expected second flood from the Angolan highlands.
It had not yet arrived at Mohembo and Naidoo says that without the second surge, the first flood which caused a lot of damage to property upstream, is now flowing slowly down stream and taking time to fill flood plains along the way.
He said this means Maun may not get a lot of water as initially thought, but people who have built in the flood plains should continue to be on the look out. Currently, the water is about 40km from Toteng along the Kunyere River and in the Xaxaba upstream on the Boro.
According to records at Mohembo, the level and water discharge have both dropped from 2.940m and 584.056 cusecs to 2.700m and 512.918 cusecs respectively over the past 10 days.
Meanwhile the flood water reached Gudigwa last week and has affected the school and the village clinic.
North West District Council public relations officer Wada Motsamai told The Ngami Times that the flood has led to some problems in accessing the clinic and the school. She also said some staff houses were affected. The school remains operational even though access was blocked and the authorities managed to make a temporary access for children to be able to reach school. With regard to the clinic, she said a temporary gate had been opened to allow people into the clinic and an ambulance had been mobilised to ferry those patients who cannot make it to the clinic. It is not yet clear whether the water level in Gudigwa is rising or receding. ( see graph: The 2008/09 hydrograph shows a sharp increase in the amount of water which then decreases sharply. the graph does show that there was no second flood. )
Sehitwa police station is finally opened
By Basadi Morokotso
SEHITWA - The long delayed opening of Sehitwa police station - which cost P50 million has finally taken place.
The Minister for Defence, Justice and Security, Ramadeluka Seretse, used the opportunity to rap local contractors over the knuckles for delaying projects.
The tender for the police station had been awarded to local contractor Ketlogetswe and Sons, as the main contractor.
Seretse called on contractors to learn to do things properly because their failure to do so might mean they are caught up with ever-increasing prices of building materials. Had the contractor abided by the rules of the agreement that the station be completed in May 2007, after building started in May 2005, Seretse said the construction would not have cost more money.
I am saying this because delays often bring about consequences like delaying services, and increasing costs which affect other planned government projects. It is my hope that all those involved in the delivery of projects of this nature will in future ensure that they are completed on time and on budget, he said.
Police Commissioner Thebeyame Tsimako said he was equally concerned about the slow progress of the construction of the station because some components such as the access road and the renovation of existing facilities are still not complete to date.
I am however told that this was due to challenges faced by the main contractor. I can only urge those responsible to give the remaining components their full attention and ensure that they are completed soon, Tsimako said.
The office block consists of 33 offices, a lecture room, storage facilities and custody areas. There is a parade ground, an impounded vehicle yard, parking facilities for staff and the public and a stable.
The offices are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that include sophisticated network and telecommunications systems, controlled access to high security areas, computers, air conditioning and many others which will promote a conducive working environment.
To address the issue of accommodation, a high-cost house has been built for the station commander, two medium cost and an additional 22 low cost houses have been built, while an extra seven old houses are currently being renovated to bring them up to standard.
The existing office block will probably be turned into a gymnasium to promote physical fitness.
Seretse said the government had been left with no option but to put in place a fully fledged stock theft branch within the Botswana Police Service as well as the setting up of stock theft courts.
The setting up of the courts, he said, has already been agreed after discussions with the Chief Justice who is currently working on the modalities of operation.
Although it is government's duty to ensure that police officers are given the necessary tools and amenities, the minister said they should also be committed to their work, to fight crime and maintain the desired level of security.
Tsimako called on his juniors to hold themselves accountable and serve the communities around them with the love and dignity that they deserve.
The policing area covers a number of villages and settlements such as Tsau, Semboyo, Bodibeng, Botlhatlogo, Kareng, Makakung, Legotlhwane as well as patrolling the Botswana/Namibia border.
Poor monitoring affects protection programmes
By Boniface Keakabetse
Participants from the department of Social Services have told a workshop organised by UNICEF in Maun that poor monitoring, evaluations and cost benefits analysis of social programmes is responsible for the inefficiency and malfunctioning of many of the programmes.
The workshop studied the effectiveness and efficiency of social protection programmes.
It heard many programmes are designed but their benefits are imagined and lack mechanisms that will ensure whether these attain their objectives and whether they go in the direction which have been envisioned.
Giving an overview of the social protection in Botswana, the social policy advisor at UNICEF, James Warner, pinpointed the Vision 2016 goals of a compassionate, just and caring nation, reduction of income inequality and poverty rates, improvement of social safety nets and the aim for the country to help people to escape from the poverty trap.
Warner said currently the department is providing about 49 000 food baskets nationwide and that the number of recipients has risen. He said the orphan food basket programme has a problem since the beneficiaries do not have access to choose the kind of food items they wish to consume while there is also a stigma recipients encounter with regard to collecting the food items.
He said often there are instances where some recipients have been given expired or low quality foodstuffs. It is also difficult for recipients in the remote areas to benefit more easily, something he said led to a policy analysis recommending the introduction of the coupon system.
He said however the slow implementation by hired private companies, the skyrocketing cost of the programme now standing at P110 million and the cost of smart card machines were projected to cost P10 700 each led to delays.
He said when the programme was rolled out in April this year, it could only be introduced in urban areas and it was questionable whether this could be regarded as an improvement.
Concerning the revision of the destitutes programme, Warner said consultants have recommended that the name destitute be replaced with an alternative name following international trends to get rid of the stigma attached to one being named as a destitutes.
Log leaders Tigers slip past Gunners
Nhabe region log leaders Maun Tigers are focused and raring to go.
They proved this over the weekend when they edged past Khwai based Gunners with a 2-1 win, in a league match played on Sunday.
Tigers had to wait until the 90th minute to secure a win through a goal by Tera Ben' Isaacs. Despite taking the lead from a goal by Business Boenyana, Gunners came back fighting and equalised through Mponang Jackson.
The game seemed destined for a draw until Gunners surrendered the win to Tigers in the last minutes of the final half.
In other games played in the region over the weekend, Delta Winds kept their winning consistency as they walloped Moeti United 2-0.
Delta Winds scored in each half through Menson Firo' Mompati in the first and young and talented wing player Olerato Sandaka' Segosebe who banged in the winner in the second half from a corner kick by Tshebetso Tshex Lekgoa. At Maun Sports Complex on Saturday, Fuji Rollers demolished Sankoyo Bush Bucks 5-3 in a mouthwatering encounter while North West United beat Maun United 6-2. Makgabisanaga marched past Cubs with a 3-1 win with cubs' only goal through reliable striker Ogaufi Maungo. Makgabisanaga got their winning goals from a brace by Boniface Botumile and Zobba Moenga.
In another gamer, BMC played a 2-2 draw with CTO.
Meanwhile this weekend will be exciting. Fans will be treated to another feast of football as an interesting derby is lined up.
On Saturday, Delta Winds will lock horns with BMC at Maun Sports Complex and that will be followed with a crunch encounter between Makgabisanaga and Maun Tigers at the same venue (4pm).
On Sunday, the battle will be between Sankoyo Bush Bucks who will face up to their counterparts, Gunners of Khwai.
Maun Terrors gave Miscellaneous a play-off spot
Nhabe regional league first division North representatives Maun Terrors have now to put their hopes of survival on their remaining league game against Orapa Bucs over the weekend in Orapa.
Had they won or drawn their weekend game against Miscellaneous, Terrors would have been out of the relegation zone, but they are left with yet another mountain to climb when they visit Bucs in their final game that will decide their fate.
The Bucs match should have been played last Sunday in Orapa but was postponed until this weekend. The win for Miscellaneous has secured them a berth in the play-offs. They went into the game needing just a point to clinch a place in the play-offs.
Miscellaneous will now face the Premier League team that finishes 14th in that league and the 1st Division South runners-up for the remaining slot in the top league.
Miscellaneous currently have 43 points from a total of 21 games which they have played so far, while the third place spot is yet to be decided. Currently 3rd are Orapa Wanderers while BR Highlanders lie 4th.
Maun Terrors failure to secure a point will now see them in the relegation battle. The struggle however is still on with the bottom five teams in desperate need of points to avoid the chop.
It is with no hesitation that bottom-placed FC Palapye has been relegated. They are destined to play in the 2nd division next season after their 2-0 defeat to another relegation haunted side, Mahalapye Hotspurs.
Despite the weekend defeat, Terrors still maintain their 8th place, ahead of Hotspurs, who were in 11th place but have now moved to 9th with 22 points. Terrors are ahead of Hotspurs with superior goal difference.
Orapa Bucs are among the relegation threatened teams. They have two remaining games to play before the end of the season but the 13-0 demolition by Motlakase has sunk them deeper into the relegation zone.
It is with much doubt that they will be capable of avoiding defeat in their two games against FC Satmos and Maun Terrors to survive the axe.
The defeat left them in 10th spot with 21 points while their counterparts Stone Breakers have dropped to 11th after their 1-0 defeat to Orapa Wanderers.
In other weekend results, Sua Flamingoes are comfortably out of danger, when they managed to defeat TASC 2-1 away in Francistown.
Revenge is what Notwane wants!
Sports Correspondent
- As Notwane troops onto the field at the Molepolole Sports Complex on Saturday to square up against a buoyant Mochudi Centre Chiefs in a grudge last 16 Coca Cola tie, revenge will be uppermost in their minds.
Twice Notwane has failed to prise away points from Chiefs in the league. In the previous encounter a determined Notwane outfit harried and pushed Chiefs all the way but this proved to be mere window dressing as Chiefs took control of the midfield in the second half and won the three points.
Notwane gets a chance to redeem itself but will have a mountain to climb.
The 12-2 demolition of a bewildered Boteti Young Fighters in the previous week delivered due warning and must have put into perspective the task at hand for the Toronto boys.
Newly-signed Dirang Moloi is untouchable as an attacking fulcrum but the feeling is that when played alongside Oteng Limkokwing' Moalosi the Chiefs midfield lacks honest, diligent stokers in the engine room like Elijah Phiriepa. Should Chiefs decide not to field the latter they would have their hands full trying to contain rising star young Galabgwe Moyana who is at centre of most of Notwane's best moves.
Unless the injury-jinxed Molwantwa recovers his form of three years ago, Sichola will continue to plough a lonely furrow upfront. Moshe Shakes' Moseki might start the game if only to bring an element of surprise and variation to the Notwane attack but will find the going tough against the twin centrebacks Michael Mogaladi and Given Mpundu.
Young Thabo Mbole returns to bolster a rickety defence that has cracked at the slightest hint of pressure but will have his hands full trying to contain the speedy Othusitse Jabu' Pilane and Pontsho Moloi.
Paul Moyo, the Notwane coach, is in danger of leaving a nasty stain on a previously largely successful career since his side has continued with a miserable run. The veteran coach seems to believe that when the tide is against you, you must keep rowing. What better way to redeem oneself through a win against Chiefs.
In other Coke fixtures, Ecco City Greens, fresh from a 1-0 win over BMC, will have a relatively easy passage against minnows Jwaneng Comets in Francistown on Saturday. Comets will have their hands full trying to contain the marauding Ecco City attacking trinity of Mandlaenkosi Sibanda, Malepa Bolelang and Bonolo Fraser.
Nico United travel to Lobatse to take on last year's finalists Uniao Flamengo Santos in a tie that could go either way or Naughty Boys welcome Tasc at the Tlokweng VDC grounds. The rest of the day's programme is completed by a clash between first division sides Young Strikers and Killer Giants at Ramotswa.
On Sunday Township Rollers will attempt to atone for their poor league form against a Mogoditshane Fighters and Extension Gunners will welcome Police XI at the Lobatse Stadium to complete the last 16 fixtures.
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