COSBOSTS members get P357 each in COVID-19 relief
The Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) says P1 million sitting on its Social and Cultural Fund will be used to provide emergency financial relief through a once-off payment to all registered members. COSBOTS currently has 2, 800 members, which means each member will pocket P357 if the funds are distributed equally.
The members of the music copyrights body, who include musicians, would have received the funds from Tuesday and Wednesday this week (March 9 10, 2021) through their PosoMoney accounts. COSBOTS members last had a relief during the first COVID-19 induced lockdown in 2020 when government provided assistance from April, May and June.
The members who are already in dire financial straits will receive the paltry P357 each more than a year since their industry was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement revealed that in 2018, COSBOTS set up a Social and Cultural Fund and one of the intended purposes was to use proceeds from the Fund for emergency financial assistance in times of pressing needs or in response to catastrophic events such as the coronavirus pandemic. “As the pandemic continues to have a negative impact on the livelihoods/financial and social well-being of our members due the shutdown of the entertainment industry, the Board has resolved to use proceeds from the Fund to the tune of P1 million to provide emergency financial relief through a once-off payment to all registered members of COSBOTS,” the statement read.
COSBOTS spokesperson, Seeletso Lekgaba later confirmed to Arts & Culture that indeed the members will get their dues as per the statement.
Those members who are not registered with PosoMoney are required to urgently provide COSBOTS with a valid mobile number(s) to help facilitate the relief payment. Moreover, musicians who are not COSBOTS members will still not benefit from the dispensation just like the last time. Unlike other organisations where membership expires, COSBOTS membership does not expire because once one is admitted as a member, he/ she keeps the membership for life.
That is unless off course a member transgresses the rules and regulations of the Society, in which case the general assembly can vote to have a member removed and will then have to apply for readmission.