Re jelwe! Tshekedi Khama speaks on plastic levy
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In a fresh turn of events, the Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama has this week made shocking revelations that the Botswana consumers have been swindled of their hard earned money through the controversial plastic levy.
Weekend Post has established that while it is not yet law, manufactures have been charging consumers the plastic levy since 2007 as they have included the fee in the total amount for the plastics. In return the retailers also charge buyers separately, both amassing huge profits in millions from the transactions.
“To be honest, re jelwe (we have been defrauded or fleeced). The manufacturers and retailers have found a loophole on dodging to pay government in the rolling out of the plastic levy.” Khama blames both the manufacturers and retailers for entering into the deal in bad faith and in the process ripping off the consumers from the incomplete (as the funds were not collected) yet consequential deal. Khama also admitted that as government, they also erred precisely by not being able to put appropriate systems in place to collect the said levy on time.
Khama, in 2017, told a parliamentary committee, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that due to government’s failure to regulate and collect the plastic levy, the initiative as such failed its purpose and retailers are taking advantage. “Batswana are being overcharged by paying for plastics at the same time having to pay for a commodity that is included in the price of packaging. The value of your shopping from a retailer is further increased by the cost of a retailer that they are selling the plastic for,” he was quoted conceding at PAC.
Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry has since distanced themselves from the failed levy and could also not quantify the amount accumulated from the levy since its introduction in 2007 referring this publication to Ministry of Environment, Natural resources Conservation and Tourism. “The plastic levy falls under Tshekedi Khama’s Ministry. They are the ones responsible for collection of the levy,” Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry told this publication upon inquiries on the funds.
As far as he knows, he said, as government they have failed to collect the levy and that means as well that the general Botswana consumers are poorer as they have lost on the transaction. In this publication’s endeavor to put a figure on the amount accrued from the plastic levy business deal, both Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry as well as Ministry of Environment, Natural resources Conservation and Tourism could not shed some light into the amount.
Tshekedi Khama could only state in a short message sender (sms) conversation with this reporter that “I don’t have the statistics on that, maybe Statistics Botswana could help or the Ministry of Trade.” However the Statistics Botswana officials insisted that they do not have such information as to how much was accrued from the levy. The National Strategy Office which is also fingered in the collection of the levy washed their hands maintaining that they “are not the right office for those figures” and referring this publication back to Tshekedi Khama’s Ministry.
Tshekedi Khama hurriedly introduced the levy under controversial circumstances which has now milked the customers millions of pula for far too long. The levy was initially intended to discourage buying of plastics as were seen as an environmental hazard. As government has failed to implement and collect funds accrued from the levy, the plastic industry has this week curiously denied the existence of the said plastic levy. A Marketing Executive at Choppies, Tshego Molosiwa told Weekend Post when contacted for a comment that the said plastic levy could not materialize.
“We have noted your enquiry with regards to the Plastic Levy. There is currently no levy that retailers pay to government as no measures have been put in place for such a transaction to materialize,” she said. Another retail official for a multi-corporation supermarket who preferred speaking on condition of anonymity pointed a finger at the manufactures accusing them of collecting the levy at the expense of government and at the detrimental of consumers.
It is understood that this leads to retailers in turn being forced to charge extra charge and that they will continue to charge consumers as and when they buy the plastics. “We buy at the plastic manufacturers whom include the cost of levy in their price. Already there is levy in manufactures plastic levy. The manufactures then have to transfer to government the said levy because it’s already included when the manufacturers sell to the retailers,” he pointed out.
He said as retailers they do not get in contact with such funds just like it is the case with the controversial much talked about National Petroleum Funds (NPF) as the filling stations too do not get in contact with the NPF funds. For plastic levy the retail official pulled government’s leg sarcastically to say that she (government) “failed to collect the levy and maybe she saved us from stealing the money as it happened with the NPF.” More than 250 million pula, and the figure keeps up shooting, has been stolen from the NPF and the matter is currently being handled before the courts.
The retail official also stated that “but to be honest the plastic industry in Botswana at one point went to government with the intention to give it the plastic levy, but nobody wanted to collect it. Tshekedi said he is not interested. Meanwhile millions of pula has been collected. The money is there at the manufacturers. Supermarkets have a record.” He added that, now the government has taken a decision to cancel the plastics, and that Tshekedi cancelled the levy and as retailers they will obey the law. He continued “we will use the biodegradables.”
On his part the Director of plastic manufacturers, MW Packages and Mushtaq Plastics, Nadeem Symeed told Weekend Post separately that there is no such thing as plastic levy. He said this against the backdrop of information that manufactures nonetheless have been charging for the levy in their sales. “There is nothing as plastic levy as it has not been implemented. There is even no law to that effect,” he highlighted to this reporter when quizzed.
Introduced in 2007 as a mechanism to fund environmentally pleasant practices, the plastic levy now appears like is a lost dream with chunks of unstated funds accumulated falling in the wrong hands and not assisting in the purpose in which it was intended to do for the environment.
Collecting the levy has demonstrated to be, for government, a burdensome undertaking for the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, as the public’s hard earned cash remain uncollected, benefitting the business owners who are now, as it appears, disowning the levy funds.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.