Tender fees' motion passes

Civic leaders feel that fees for tender documents are so exorbitant that they deny individuals in the low income bracket the opportunity to stake bids.  The mover of the motion, councillor Lekang Mukokomani, said the fact that the fee is non-refundable even for those who lose the tender, means that Batswana are being exploited.
He charged that the practice defeats citizen empowerment efforts.

"Some Batswana cannot bid for tenders because they cannot afford the tender fees. This scenario sidelines low income people from bidding and automatically reserves tendering for a certain class of people. This thing must be viewed as a stumbling block to citizen economic empowerment," he debated. However, some councillors felt that councils and other parastatals depend on tender fees to generate their own revenue, arguing that the money is used to compile tender documents.