BOPEU Calls For Review Of Social Protection Schemes

Correspondent | Monday January 23, 2017 16:41

“There is a worrisome trend of new schemes, strategies, and programmes that most of the time never fulfil their mandates,” the BOPEU leader remarked in his  pre-budget speech document released two weeks ahead of the presentation of the  national budget for 2017/18.

BOPEU is also concerned that the current social welfare programmes such as Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) are not all inclusive, adding that there is need to increase the scope of social welfare programmes to a level that will include cadres in teaching, nursing and other professions. “A  traditional domestic household is by nature an extended family and if the scope to the access of such programmes is broadened, it will inevitably cover more members of the traditional family. The end result is an increased average worker’s purchasing power as more family members subsequently get enrolled in social welfare programmes”.

BOPEU also called upon government to justify the meagre destitute and pension allowances economically and empirically, and wondered how a P30 increase in the pension allowance would make a difference in the social and economic well-being of pensioners.  BOPEU also noted that   government’s social protection agenda is in need of review. The Union quoted a  report on Botswana’s social protection assessment launched recently which revealed that Botswana was unable to act timely against absolute poverty because it does not have up to date information. “It was observed that “Labour force and Botswana Core Welfare Indicators (BCWIS) surveys are done only every seven to nine years, which is too infrequent to allow for timely analysis and policy corrections,”,  the BOPEU document further highlights. “In addition, the detailed results of the 2009/10 BCWIS are still not available, and some of the analysis on this assessment had to rely on data from the 2002/03 survey”.

According to Motsamai  the report further states that while Botswana has many social protection programmes, they are relatively small compared to the target group or to the number of people they attempt to cover thus limiting their effectiveness.

 “The report asserts that contributory pensions cover less than 13% of the workforce, reflecting the structure of the economy and its small formal sector. Targeted programmes for the poor such as the Destitute Pensions or Ipelegeng cover less than three percent of the population. Furthermore, safety net programmes remain fragmented”.