It is evident that people living in poverty will face a difficult time as we head towards the end of 2022 because of the high unemployment rate. The announcement by Stats SA that large numbers of people are unemployed in this year end quarter is the evidence of the tough times the residents are facing. Even though the rate of unemployment decreased by 1%, it doesn’t mean problems are over, especially for women and youth. It has come to our attention that a lot of the people affected by unemployment are the youth and women.
The Botshabelo Unemployment Movement (BUM) encourages people to create income for themselves by utilizing the small land they have to grow food so that they can survive and feed their families in this month of December.
B.U.M is proud that it has been supporting unemployed residents this whole year. We were able to lend a hand and give 70 families seeds to plant for themselves. We believe this will change the lives of these residents this Christmas.
Residents of Botshabelo and near, the B.U.M organisation encourages them to use hard earned money wisely and with caution. We sympathize with some of the residents who said this holiday season is going to be miserable because there’s nothing for them to celebrate.
We encourage them by saying they shouldn’t lose hope because even in the coming year we are going to give more support to unemployed residents. There’s still a lot of work we are planning to do together to fight for the residents of Botshabelo in order for them to find employment and ways to curb poverty. B.U.M is also available to help residents to apply for the SASSA R350 SRD Grant.
This month of December is known for high criminal activities and alcohol usage, residents are asked to care for children and elders when they go shopping in town so that they don’t fall victims to senseless crimes.
B.U.M’s final message for 2022 to the residents of Botshabelo is that this year has been a difficult and sad year but this doesn’t mean it’s over for the residents. Let’s begin 2023 on a high note and stand together in unity. As the Sesotho proverb says “letshewele le beta poo” which means “there is power in unity” and believe that next year the residents won’t have such a bleak Christmas.
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