Illegal phane harvesters outsmart beneficiaries
Onalenna Kelebeile | Friday October 19, 2018 15:35
Fifty-six-year-old beneficiary, Gabobofane Nthomphe was enrolled into the programme in 2012 and got assisted with a package that comprises tent, 25kg three-legged pot, 250-litre drum, food basket and transport to and from the harvest camp. She said first of all as harvesters they establish where the worm is then inform the Department of Forestry and Range Resource who would then issue permits to harvest when the worm is fully mature.
She said phane is a valuable asset that has huge economic benefits citing that she managed to build a two-roomed house for her family through phane proceeds. She further said that on a good season phane economically sustains her through to the next harvest season. However, her main concern is that there is no stringent measure to clamp down on illegal harvesters who often dominate the harvest areas and often harvest even the baby worms that are not mature enough to be eaten. Some even go to the extent of unearthing the worms that are at a stage of reproducing, which has the potential to render the worm extinct in the near future.
She said with little intervention to control illegal harvesters who are often uncooperative with officials who visit the camps those who are poverty eradication programme beneficiaries would lose a great deal.
She noted that by the time permits are issued, illegal harvesters would have already cleared the worms in the bush. She said government must move to apprehend vehicle owners who ferry illegal harvesters to the harvest sites before permits are issued so that nobody goes there. She said as a result of the economic hardships, well-off members of the community who ferry alcohol to the bushes to exchange for phane leaving harvesters empty handed exploit some harvesters.
She added that some businesspeople also bring food packages and second-hand clothes as well as cigarettes to barter them for phane.
“Our business is not protected at all because it is a free entry for all. As such even those working go on leave and come to harvest. It defeats government’s efforts to help us graduate from poverty, so we are in a dilemma.”
Nthomphe said even those who benefitted in other programmes leave theirs during the harvest season and invade the bushes to harvest.
“Government must regulate phane sales so that as beneficiaries we can benefit from the lucrative business. We can form a cooperative society to control the sales to avoid individuals selling that results in exploitation,” she said. She also felt government needs to address situations where by-laws deter them as upcoming small enterprises from operating in some areas.
“Government must never think of ending poverty eradication programmes, as we still need them to improve our lives. What we need is a poverty eradication expo where we can all sell our products from a centralised place as beneficiaries,” he said.
Forestry superintendent Julias Modikwa said during a poverty eradication workshop that it is difficult for them to control the prizes between phane sellers and buyers, as it does not fall within their mandate.
He added that there are currently 56 beneficiaries under the phane programme in his area of jurisdiction who he said are monitored for five years after which they are expected to be independent and self-sustainable.
He said within the period beneficiaries are not expected to sell any packaged item.
He noted that the challenge they encounter is that beneficiaries relocate from their residences and become untraceable when they need to compile reports. “When we make appointments for assessments they disappear and some do not have sense of ownership of their packages hence lack commitment,” he said.
Modikwa added that they have made a decision that nobody is assisted with a programme without undergoing training because once they receive packages they never attend training.
The District Commissioner Patson Dibotelo said government is concerned with the rate of poverty in the country hence the many programmes geared towards eradicating it.
She urged beneficiaries to utilise the programmes well for the betterment of their own lives and cited a challenge of lack of business acumen among beneficiaries.
Challenges cited during the workshop included uncoordinated policies, poor implementation, poor targeting that results in exclusion and inclusion and difficult market access by the poor as well as inadequate monitoring and evaluation.