Africa-Press – Botswana. Residents of Mabesekwa have been urged to refrain from selling livestock given to them under the poverty eradication programmes.
Addressing the residents recently, Member of Parliament for Tonota, Mr Pono Moatlhodi said livestock theft was a serious crime punishable by law.
He urged residents to help the police to arrest culprits of such criminal acts as they were members of their community.
He said there were reports that some of the poverty eradicate beneficiaries sold the livestock given to them and claimed it was stolen.
He advised residents to refrain from doing so as the livestock was government property.
Mr Moatlhodi also advised residents to stay away from alcohol, as it contributed to other criminal activities such as rape and theft.
He further urged parents to avoid from leaving children alone when going to the fields, which exposes them to threats such as defilement.
He said cases of defilement were rising in the area and this called for maximum care and supervision of minors.
He added that it was the responsibility of parents to ensure that children were protected, taken care of and received education without any distraction.
Giving an overview of the village, Kgosi Khutsafalo Sehathololo, complained that water connection in the village was slow and caused traffic at standpipes.
He pleaded with Water Utilities Corporation to quicken the water connection process.
He said that some farmers fetched water with big tanks to water their livestock thereby causing shortage for human consumption.
Kgosi Sehathololo also complained that land allocation was also slow.
He said this was delaying growth of the village as the youth could not develop the village without plots.
Kgosi Sehathololo further complained that people were allocated boreholes inside ploughing fields and such boreholes were now used to water livestock that was kept in the fields.
He added that the livestock kept in ploughing fields ended up destroying field fences and crops.
Kgosi Sehathololo also noted some ploughing fields owners closed passages causing difficulties for residents leading their livestock to watering points.
He said such owners were not cooperative when called for consultative meetings.
He also decried theft of livestock given to beneficiaries of poverty eradication programmes and the Youth Development Fund.
Kgosi Sehathololo said livestock theft was escalating.
The village chief also complained of 41 alcohol depots in the village, saying they contributed to crime.
Responding to issues of illegal closing of passages between fields, Tonota Land Board assistant chairperson, Ms Seeletso Merafhe said land extension should be agreed upon by neighbours and the inspection team made sure passages were not affected unless such passages were illegally closed.
Ms Merafhe also explained that integrated farming allowed farmers to drill boreholes and expand their farms but their livestock was supposed to be contained within the farms.
She also said land allocation preparation was in progress and allocation would start soon.
For his part, Mr Moetedi Mashabi, a Mabesekwa resident, complained of promises that were never delivered to residents, citing playgrounds and a junior school as examples.
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