No Omang, no food

A young Mosarwa woman from Maposa village in the Nata area is currently living in poverty and squalor because she has no national identity card to enable her to access government welfare programmes.

Buzwani Disela who does not even know her birth date and place looks hard beaten by the effects of poverty. She has four children to feed on a daily basis. Worse still, her live in partner Ketshwaretsemang Seganeng who is also a Mosarwa, is also not employed. When The Midweek Sun caught up with her at her mud hut which also needs urgent repair, she explained sorrowfully that she couldn’t register for O Mang because of the nomadic lifestyle of her parents.

“I am a Mosarwa who never went to school and as such, I don’t even know where and when I was born since my parents live somewhere in the bush. I only came to Maposa to live with my boyfriend and I have been suffering since then as I cannot be assisted since I do not have an Omang. If only I could be assisted to get the identification documents, my life would be greatly improved. My colleagues who have Omang can make ends meet and provide for their children,” she cried.

She said that she and her four children do not have clothes to change but could have bought them if only she had an Omang. She said the social workers in the area are aware of her predicament but refuse to assist her. Meanwhile her partner Seganeng cannot understand why his partner cannot be assisted with an Omang. When contacted for comment on the Disela’s predicament, Tutume Sub district Public relations officer Nikita Ratedi admitted that her office was aware of the case.

Ratedi said that the social worker assigned for the village of Maposa is better placed to assist those who need government poverty eradication programmes after a thorough assessment. “Once a person is assessed but does not qualify, one has the right to appeal the decision but that does not automatically guarantee one to be approved,” she explained.

She further said that the council is not mandated to help people to get Omang as there is an office to assist Disela in that regard. She however said that the council has so far assessed her children under the needy children scheme and they will only get a feedback early next year.