* ‘P1.4 billion spent on PEP but poverty is on the rise!’ maintains Saleshando Although they did not have the numbers to prove it, government are adamant poverty levels in the country have gone done since the Poverty Eradication Programme was launched ten years ago. Defending the programme in parliament on Wednesday, Assistant Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Dumezweni Mthimkhulu, revealed govt’ have pumped P1.4 billion into the initiative, established to empower those living in abject poverty. Mthimkhulu was responding to questions raised by Maun West Member of Parliament (MP), Dumelang Saleshando, who wanted to know the total number of beneficiaries and graduates of the programme, as well as the value of the packages extended to the beneficiaries.