IPELEGENG BUDGET CUT RAISES JOB LOSS FEARS
ARECENT controversial decision by Government to drastically cut down the Ipelegeng budget has been met with fears of salary cuts and job losses by employees of the poverty eradication programme.
However, this week, the Director of Local Governance and Development Planning, Mompati Seleka, assured the worried employees that the budget cut does not mean job losses, contrary to some claims circulating on social media.
“We have seasonal budgets to sustain the programme. The budget includes paying the workers and those who sell meals to the workers. The initial estimated budget was P679, 000.00 and now the revised actual budget is P528, 000.00; however, this decline does not affect the employment status of our workers.” Seleka said in an interview
“The leaked Savingram that is now in the public domain should have remained a confidential document. Let me be clear to you, we are not cutting out anyone from the programme,” Seleka stressed.
Below are some comments from Ipelegeng employees on the matter.
BALESENG PONTO (63)
What the ministry has done is wrong. It is not right at all. Where are we going to go? I mean, we were complaining about the P300.00 remuneration, which is not even enough to sustain our livelihood.
We rely on the ipelegeng programme so how are we going to make ends meet with salary cuts?
OTHUSITSE MATSAWETSAWE
I heard this issue around 1pm yesterday but the Council Secretary has assured us that there will be no job losses.
At least we can sleep well knowing our jobs are still secure, for now. But you can never know these days. We will wait and see.
KEIKOTLHAE PULAMOENG
We heard that the Ipelegeng budget has been decreased but that does not necessarily mean that they will cut us out. Instead of budget cuts, we want them to increase our salaries, as this is a risky job.
I will tell you that we clock in for work very early, while it is still dark, and we are exposed to risks like snake bites in the bushes that we are employed to cut.