Africa-Press – Botswana. North West District leadership has been challenged to see how they can improve the lives of Basarwa.
The call was made by the Inter Ministerial Committee assigned to look into the situation of Baswarwa, during a leadership consultative forum held Friday in Maun to engage on the challenges faced by Basarwa and come up with lasting solutions that could enhance their quality of life.
The committee that has visited other places where Basarwa live, shared that Basarwa lived a pathetic life that undermined their dignity and were not included in decision making processes.
They said the Basarwa complained of poverty among their communities and that they were limited in accessing social services as well as economic and educational opportunities among other things.
For a long time, they said they got by on government assistance yet they had land which they could utilise in the instance that government empowered them.
Committee member, Ms Gabatlotlane Mogapi who is also the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs permanent secretary, informed social workers to change the way they had been doing things and start looking for ways to empower Basarwa to be self-reliant.
She said social work was not all about assessments and giving out safety nets, it also involved community development with focus on social justice, equality and mutual respect to improve living conditions of the communities.
“You should talk about community led development initiatives because some communities have ranches and we can help them to develop those, so that they reduce dependency on government,” she said.
Ms Mogapi stated that some communities indicated that they were not happy to be benefiting from safety nets and would like to be empowered so that they ventured into income generating projects to sustain themselves.
She also highlighted that the Community Constituency Programme (CCP) could be used to unlock opportunities like drilling of boreholes.
Committee chairperson, Ms Naledi Moroka appreciated the report presented by the senior district development officer, Ms Oritjiua Seketia, apprising on the development profile of Remote Area Dweller Programme (RADP) settlements in the district but emphasised the need for leadership to look deeper into the issues of Basarwa and see how best they could improve their living conditions.
The report provided a developmental profile of four RADP settlements: Mababe, Khwai, Somelo and Phuduhudu and the committee learnt that each played a significant role in the district’s socio-economic and environmental landscape.
While she appreciated the assistance they had been offered and that they had been relocated from their original land, she said they should establish who occupied that land and if any relationship existed such as giving back to the community.
Earlier on, Ms Setekia informed the committee that the district was home to a number of unique and culturally rich settlements especially within the framework of the Remote Area Development.
She shared insights into the demographic characteristics, infrastructure, livelihoods and development challenges, highlighted that development efforts in such settlements must consider the strong spiritual and ancestral connection of Basarwa communities to their land.
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