Addressing a rally at the Gaborone Bus rank on Wednesday, Molefhabangwe said the BNF’s original political philosophy outlined in Pamphlet No. 1 stated that Basarwa would be housed in a modern township with schools and they would be employed in industries.
“In my understanding, this means that relocation cannot be ruled out. In fact, this suggests relocation. So when the BNF comes to power, it may have to relocate Basarwa,” he said. He said it was for this reason that as a BNF member, he did not oppose the relocation of Basarwa. But he was against the stoppage of services like water and food rations to pressurise the Basarwa to move out of the CKGR.
He was furious about detractors who accused him of behaving like a BDP minister and said he was disturbed by such “silly intellectuals.”
He branded Steven Corry of Survival International as an enemy of the BNF because his attack on Botswana diamonds would ruin the economy. He said if the BNF allowed the attack on diamonds to continue unchallenged, it will find economic difficulties when it comes to power.
However he said in his view, relocation of Basarwa must be preceded by education, to sensitise them and bring them to the level of other Batswana.
“Why should we desire to see Basarwa wrapped in skins round their waists when we do not wear them ourselves?” Molefhabangwe asked to the applause of the crowd.
He said Basarwa should not be tantalised, but must enjoy the fruits of independence like all Batswana. He said his party recognises Basarwa as a special group that has historically been oppressed, first by the colonial masters, missionaries and later by white settlers and fellow Batswana.
Turning again to his detractors, Molefhabangwe charged that he could not speak cheap politics to impress somebody. “Unfortunately I did not sign a contract with anybody that I was going to be an opportunist,” he said to more applause.
He added that he was annoyed by those who called him a BDP sell-out for sitting in parliamentary committees. He said amazingly, his counterpart and leader of Opposition Nehemiah Modubule chairs the Public Accounts Committee and nobody has made bones about it.
Molefhabangwe also seized the opportunity to market himself to potential voters. He said MPs must be judged against the promises they made to the electorate when they were elected in 1999.
His reference tool was the 1999 BNF manifesto from which he picked out HIV/AIDS and labour rights as some of the areas he concentrated on.
He said in furtherance of his promises, he walked from Jwaneng to Gaborone and raised P188 000 which he donated to two organisations dealing with HIV/AIDS.
He later went with President Festus Mogae, then Health Minister Joy Phumaphi and MP Lesedi Mothibamele to the United States where they managed to persuade billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda to contribute funds to combat the epidemic in Botswana.
He said after being elected chairperson of the SADC MPs HIV/AIDS, he went to Berlin with other MPs and through their efforts anti-retroviral drugs have been availed to Botswana. “Mo ntweng e ga go na yo o nketang pele (In this HIV/AIDS war, I am second to none!),” Molefhabangwe exclaimed.
He said even in Parliament he was working hard and sits in more committees thanmost MPs. He said on the labour front, he has been to Mashatu farms, where he has seen the oppression of workers and has intervened on their behalf to make sure that they are treated properly. He said while at Mashatu, he also discovered some wild animals were being stolen by farmers.
