Kutlo Motseta
26th August 2024
The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) held a press conference on Tuesday at the National Museum in Gaborone to launch its workers manifesto ahead of general elections scheduled for October 2024.
The federation, which is a umbrella trade union body, raised concerns about the levels of poverty in the country both amongst working people and those that are unemployed at homes.
“Poor that work and poor at home,statistics show that there is a decline [in financial wellness …the biggest worry] is poverty at district level,” said Tshepiso Mbereki, Secretary General of the Federation.
Mbereki said their research did not include payments in kind, food packages at work, gifts at work etc. “We have excluded these because if you use them [they can be] misleading so we exclude payment in kind to properly reflect the gravity of poverty,” he said.
He said that women and disabled people are still greatly affected by poverty. He said at independence Botswana was one of the poorest country in the world now it is one of the ten most unequal societies in the world with a small minority enjoying a disproportionate amount of wealth.
The Federation said that it wants the informal sector to be better incorporated into the economy to alleviate unemployment.
He also complained that “many people get dismissed from work, when they join trade unions in the private sector … people should excercise their rights in this regard,” he said.
He further said that qualitative rather than the quantative value of investment in the education should be assessed when determining the value of the money invested in education and whether graduates of the education system acquire relevant tools for the work place.
“[We] need to look at education system [we are] worried about what comes out of an P100m [investment] … can a person be sustained through that education not just the purpose of money” and added that education is a right and should be free.
Mbereki said that the Directorate of Economic Corruption (DCEC) should be given space to do their work because corruption soils the economy and its workers within it.
“We should point out that the DCEC [institutions] are a good thing … it’s a universal practice. When you are corrupt person, you don’t [just] steal money you ruin lives”.
He said that the Executive (President’s office) should separated from the oversight institutions and accountable to the parliament. He exemplified South Africa, which has a Public Protector, whose office is separate from the executive.
The Umbrella Democracy Change parliamentary hopeful for Kanye West, Victor Phologolo complained that the manifesto was rolled out late.
“It would be would be appropriate to do your manifesto as early as possible before they (political parties) do their manifestos to take heed of what you drafted in the manifesto.”
He also asked which stick the federation intended to wield or penal measures it intended to pursue to deter political parties from ignoring them.
Mbereki responded by saying that political parties would realize the implications of overlooking them at the ballot. “At federation level we have many different parties but we try and take a stand. IF BDP doesn’t deliver, [we will kick them] out,” he firmly stated.
Labour policy expert and Secretary General of the Botswana Federation of Public Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSO), Kealeboga Dipogiso emphasized the importance of political neutrality.
He said, “BOFEPUSO had an experience where it went to support political parties and it did not end well for the federation. As it happens internationally, where you take political stands and there us a fall out, unions end up clashing and it ends up with bad experiences.”
Diposigo said, “Learning from 2019, what the Federations undertook to do we leant from the mistake and will remain neutral … that does not mean that [we won’t] be political, but [we] won’t take want political slogans and go chanting in the streets.”
Mbereki said that he hoped that political parties will take the BFTU manifesto to their political rallies and highlight what the workers want as elucidated in the BFTU manifesto and explain what they will deliver in relation thereof. “I hope you will take the manifesto to the rallies and say the workers say this and we say this,” he said.
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) will discuss its workers manifesto on Sunday 31st August at Arial stadium in Tlokweng.
