FCC warns 'unscrupulous' beneficiaries
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday April 21, 2020 20:28
When answering some questions about who genuinely qualifies for the food parcels during a press conference on Tuesday, Pule admitted that some people provide wrong information to social workers that are assessing them in order to unlawfully benefit from the programme.
He explained that the food baskets are provided as a temporary relief measure to those who cannot meet their families’ most basic needs and those who no longer have any source of generating income amongst other reasons since the government enacted the lockdown in order to control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Botswana.
He reiterated that most of the people who qualify for the food parcels are informal traders who were hamstrung by the lockdown since their movement is now restricted and those who earn very low salaries.
However, Pule warned those who may have falsely given information to social workers and those who are intending to do so that the government will leave no stone unturned, “to probe if indeed those who benefited from the programme duly qualified to be assisted”.
He said that the government would conduct an audit to find out if those who were given the food baskets truly qualified to get them.
Pule said: “We have engaged 30 more social workers to speed up the process of identifying and registering beneficiaries under this programme. These social workers are people who spent the better part of their lives working as social workers. Therefore, we believe that they are well-equipped to vet people who truly qualify for the food baskets because we are aware that some will provide false information which may lead to our social workers to giving them the food baskets in some instances”.
Pule said that it is very difficult to know if people duly qualify to be assisted adding that the exercise would only be a success if members of the public provide truthful information to government assessors.
“We really don’t want to take the legal action against anyone because we believe that they would provide accurate and candid information to social workers. Our belief is that government’s intention is to help people who are really in need of these food baskets,” Pule said.
He added: “However, should the need arise for us to take legal action against anyone who may have unduly benefited from the programme after we later make an audit, we will take that route,” Pule said matter-of-factly.
“Providing false information to a person employed in the public service is an offence. The council commenced household assessments on April 10, so far, a total of 11,188 assessments were conducted as at April 20. So far, 5,294 people were recommended for assistance. The exercise is still ongoing,” he said.
General dealers and fresh produce licensed businesses, Pule said, have been identified to supply food relief packages to all the beneficiaries who have qualified for the assistance.
“These suppliers are located within the wards of the City of Francistown in order to enhance local economic empowerment. Packaging of food hampers is earmarked to start tomorrow (Wednesday). Owners of mini-trucks in Francistown will be identified to transport COVID-19 food relief packages to enhance their livelihoods. So far, 75 households have already been assisted with food rations after they presented urgent situations, which could not wait for mass assessments. The municipality also supplied needy students with sorghum, maize, samp, rooibos, salt, sugar, sunflower oil and milk effective April 20, which rations used to be provided at primary schools across the city,” Pule said.