28 Jan 2025

Issues of delayed payments and exorbitant SMEGA transactional fees that have been affecting Ipelegeng workers in Kanye will be addressed soon. 

During a kgotla meeting addressed by Kanye West MP, Mr Prince Mosanana, residents complained about such issues, and the legislator promised that a resolution would be reached between Kanye District Council (KDC) and Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) regarding the matter. 

The complaints followed a move by KDC to start using BTC's SMEGA account to pay Ipelegeng workers. 

The council’s chief social and community development officer, Ms Tebogo Mahlunge said they started using SMEGA account for Ipelegeng workers in December.

She said the transition to the BTC managed SMEGA account followed the council’s decision to discontinue its arrangements with BotswanaPost.

She said the move was intended to facilitate the workers with an efficient way of accessing their payments.

She said they have had some teething problems resulting in delayed payments.

On the issue of transactional fees, she said all account holders incurred fees, as it was a standard practice across all financial service providers.

She advised the workers to minimise frequent withdrawals to reduce costs.

She pointed that using SMEGA account was optional as the workers had the liberty to use other financial instutions for their payments.

Ms Mahlunge further promised that workers would be equipped with all the necessary knowledge during the enrollment process. 

She expressed optimism that the initiative was meant to address payment delays issues.

On whether the council could revert back to using BotswanaPost for payments, she said the issue would be revisited by the council.

On the quality of food provided for Ipelegeng workers, she said council was developing quality standard tools to ensure that service providers adhered to food hygiene and presentation protocols.  ENDS