The Leader of Opposition (LoO), Dumelang Saleshando, was the first to voice out that there should be a means test for Old Age Pension. Responding to the Budget Speech last week, Saleshando, who is the president of the main opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP), said the government has indicated that the Child Grant support of P300 be subjected to a means test, meaning that those who can afford to bear the cost will not be assisted.
“The same should apply to old age pension, those that can afford to fend for themselves should not be paid the P1, 400,” he said.
“Most of the time we have been told that Tandabala is given to everyone because doing a means test is costly. The situation where you find a retired chief executive of a multinational company, a retired president, earning retirement pension plus Old Age pension of P1, 400, should stop,” Saleshando emphasised.
Now, other legislators from both the opposition aisle and ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) have since joined the chorus saying that ‘not everyone aged 65 and above’ should benefit from Tandabala.
The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Wynter Mmolotsi, agreed with Saleshando that they should assess what he called ‘double dipping’. “As we head towards including people aged 60 years and above in the pension allowance, we agreed that we should assess if there are no duplications and whether there is no double dipping so that we can fix these things,” he further pointed out.
Mmolotsi highlighted that there are people who do not deserve Tandabala. He announced that the UDC government is going to do a comprehensive assessment, which will help them to make a decision. “Currently, if you look at the situation there are people who are paid pension by the government and they go on to benefit from the Tandabala as well. This is what we call double dipping. So the assessments we are going to do will guide us as we try to accommodate people aged 60 and above. As we remove undeserving people who are double dipping, we will create an opening for 60 years plus,” Mmolotsi clarified as he responded to the budget speech recently.
For his part, Tswapong South MP Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang said when it comes to social protection programmes, there should be a thorough evaluation to target the disadvantaged. “We cannot include everyone. That is not possible. Why should I benefit from Tandabala while I also benefit from a University of Botswana pension, both of which are disbursed by government?” Gobotswang asked. Gobotswang, just like Saleshando, also asked why former presidents are supposed to benefit from Tandabala while they are getting other fat benefits from the same government. “Remove us because if you do that plenty of funds will be available even to pay deserving pensioners P1, 500 or P1, 800,” he blatantly said.
