The true cost of govt’s ‘free lunch’

Botswana has brought a butter knife to a poverty fight whilst its antagonist – unemployment – has brought a grenade. For 58 years, government has been preaching empowerment, social welfare, and social security support, but after almost six decades since Independence, the time has come to question the real meaning of this old song.

For the financial year 2025–2026 government plans to raise its social welfare programme spend from P2.88 billion to P6.48 billion, an increase of over P3.6 billion. These social interventions, though not ‘evil’ or wasteful in their nature, can be strategically re-deployed to win the war against unemployment and inequality. After all, is unemployment not the greatest ill Botswana faces?