27 Jan 2025

Residents of Marapalalo ward in Kanye have been urged to consider foster parenting to assist the Social Welfare Unit.

Lack of community response to the social welfare request for support in child welfare and care has been highlighted. 

Ms Neo Baipusi, a senior social welfare officer in Kanye District, said during a kgotla meeting in Marapalalo addressed by the Member of Parliament for Kanye West, Mr Victor Phologolo recently.

Ms Baipusi emphasised her office’s need for assistance to prepare homes for abused children.

“The only existing support is in Molepolole, where parents have stepped up to ensure child protection and care," she said.

However, she said no families in Kanye had come forward to offer similar support, which posed a pressing challenge for her office when dealing with cases that required foster homes.

On the acute water shortage in Kanye, Water Utilities Corporation General Manager in Kanye Mr Monametsi Ramasu said water woes began with a declining yield of Kgwakgwe and Selokolela boreholes due population growth in the village.

He said the two boreholes current yield was seven million litres of water daily, while Kanye needed 15 million litres of water daily leaving a deficit of eight million litres. 

Mr Ramasu informed residents that water shortage led to Kanye being connected on the North South carrier water project to augment the daily deficit.

He attributed recent water shortage to a breakdown of a nine mm ductile water pipe. 

Mr Ramasu said it was an unfortunate incident that had not only affected Kanye, but all villages supplied from the pipe line such as Gabane, Kumakwane, Thamaga, Moshupa, Kanye and Molepolole,

He said in such cases, Kanye was sustained by only seven million litres of water from the local wells hence acute shortage times.

He said the corporation utilised four water bowsers to distribute water to various villages served by the Kanye Pump Station, such as Moshana, Gasita, Selokolela, and Lothakane East. 

He acknowledged, that these bowsers weare insufficient, and emphasised the need for the corporation to consider contracting additional resources.

Member of Parliament for Kanye West, Mr Phologolo informed residents that Botswana was transitioning to a digital payment system aimed at creating a cashless society.

He cautioned that these developments will bring challenges and requested residents to be patient during the implementation phase. 

In a related note, he observed that residents were pleased about the upcoming introduction of Prepaid Smart Metering in greater Gaborone, which has shown promising results during its pilot phase. ENDS