Gov't lauds Choppies for housing programme support
Kabelo Boranabi | Wednesday October 22, 2025 06:00
At the launch, the retail giant announced a two-bedroom house in Block 6, Gaborone as the grand prize. Minister of Water and Human Settlement, Onneetse Ramogapi, used the launch on October 16, 2025, to highlight the importance of partnerships in delivering affordable homes and improving citizens’ lives. Though the house is not listed under the government’s Bonno National Housing Programme, he said it would be a great addition by the private sector to the 100,000 houses target.
“It is the intention of today’s government to provide respectable homes for citizens, but we cannot achieve this without the aid of the private sector,” he said.
“Choppies is a shining example. By gifting a house in this year’s edition of the Big Birthday Bonanza, the retail giant is also adding to the government’s housing programme.
“Choppies has always supported the government’s initiatives of changing the lives of Batswana.”
The minister praised the grocer’s alignment with national priorities, including early adoption of the P4,000 minimum wage, and its contribution to the Bonno National Housing Programme with the donation of a fully furnished two-bedroom house in Block 6.
“We said we need to provide decent homes to Batswana, and now Choppies is lending a hand by giving away a two-bedroom house,” Ramogapi added.
The Bonno Housing Programme aims to address the longstanding housing backlog in Botswana, offering affordable and decent homes to low- and middle-income citizens.
By incorporating a fully furnished home as the grand prize, Choppies has created a rare opportunity for a lucky winner to secure immediate access to housing, complementing the government’s goal of providing sustainable living solutions.
Choppies CEO, Ramachandran Ottapathu, noted that the Big Birthday Bonanza is more than a competition and it is a celebration of loyalty and empowerment.
“In building this brand, one factor has always stood out to our customers. Every year, we try to improve our ‘thank you’ offer back to our consumers, and this year, we wanted to be slightly better than last year,” he said, reflecting on past winners whose lives have been transformed by cars, cash, and business-starting opportunities.
This year, the 22nd edition prizes are a fully furnished two-bedroom house, Block 6, Gaborone, four Toyota Hilux bakkies, 10 Suzuki Super Carry (Matshelonyana) trucks and P300,000 worth of vouchers every weekend.
Meanwhile, Choppies launched the Choppies Bonus, a customer rewards program designed to give shoppers instant rewards.
The name itself was crowdsourced, allowing customers to earn rewards every time they shop.