Rari, Motshegwa hang BOFEPUSU boots
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday September 15, 2023 12:20
Having been part of the team that joined the leadership of the federation post the 2011 public sector trade unions dubbed the mother of all strikes, Rari, a teacher by training, feels he has played his part in establishing a federation of BOFEPUSU’s magnitude.
“We found BOFEPUSU acting more like a trade union than the federation that it is today,” explained the fiery trade unionist that also doubles as the secretary-general for BOSETU (Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union). BOFEPUSU at the time was more into the domain of trade unions than its current rightful place as a federation of repute.
One of the things that the federation did was to open up its membership recruitment from concentrating in the public sector only and widened its scope to include the private and parastatal sectors besides its usual members, Manual Workers Union, Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) BOSETU, Botswana Land Boards and Local Authorities Health Workers Union (BLLAHWU), Botswana Nurses Union (BONU), Botswana Media and Allied Workers Union (BOMAWU), University of Botswana Academic and Support Staff Union (UBASSU), Union of Buses and Taxis, Botswana Communications Workers Union (BOCOWU), Botswana Hotel, Catering and Travelling amongst others. BOFEPUSU has diametrically transformed its outlook and it is no longer a public sector-based federation and it seems the sky is the limit in terms of its recruitment drive to lure more trade unions to its side.
Now, because of its wider representation, BOFEPUSU is recognised as the labour centre and it also forms part of all tripartite arrangements in the country. Rari highlighted that together with the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU), BOFEPUSU represented workers at the Labour Advisory Board and equally, the latter federation represents workers at the minimum wage board. Rari is leaving the federation at a time when it now has representation at the High Level Consultative Council (HLCC), which is chaired by President Mokgweetsi Masisi. Equally, BOFEPUSU seats at the Sub HLCC at the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs and within the SADC structures committee of Ministers of Labour within SADC. One of the benefits of being recognised as a labour centre is that now BOFEPUSU as part of the tripartite arrangement, each year the ILO has a conference through slots of government as tripartite partners on alternating basis with BFTU which is another recognised labour centre.
Over and above all, Rari’s conviction is that a federation becomes successful when it has international connections that help it remain focused. BOFEPUSU amongst others is a member of the Southern Africa Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC). SATUCC is a regional trade union organisation representing all major trade union federations in SADC. One of BOFEPUSU’s achievements was reporting Botswana as a country through the ILO conference for infringing on the ILO co-Conventions.
For his part, the outgoing BOFEPUSU deputy secretary-general, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa indicates that he became the deputy secretary-general of BOFEPUSU immediately after the massive public sector industrial action in Botswana of June 2011, a strike which he says he played a key role in as secretary-general of BLLAHHWU.
“My intention, which I shared with others in the committee was to project BOFEPUSU in the international space of labour movement and international tripartite structures; for BOFEPUSU to influence social dialogue structures on welfare of workers, and to be a big federation with proper ideological orientation and run professionally,” Motshegwa told Mmegi this week. He emphasised: “That I can say we accomplished with distinction as results and empirical evidence indicate. I have decided not to stand for re-election in BOFEPUSU central committee because I believe I have done my part and also important to give space and way for others to contribute and grow in leadership for one of the responsibilities of a leader is leadership regeneration.” He says his move would also give him ample time to focus more on BLLAHWU in the quest to consolidate it as a force to reckon with; the torch bearer of progressive labour politics in Botswana and in the realm of solidarity and internationalism. He is proud to have been part of a team that brought militancy, class-consciousness and ideological clarity, and leadership credibility to the federation. “We found BOFEPUSU as a public sector federation and transformed it to a fully fledged federation that recruited and accepted membership from parastatals and private sector unions and consequently it changed its name from Botswana Public Sector Federation of Trade Unions to Botswana Federation of Public Parastatals and Private Sector Unions,” he explained.
He hails BOFEPUSU for being a fortress to the vulnerable private sector workers in hotels, shops, filling stations, guards and so forth. “Based on this, we successfully secured BOFEPUSU status of recognition at ILO. We prepared and put before ILO reports outlining violation of workers’ rights in Botswana, and one of the reports led to ILO committee of application of standards making findings that the government of Botswana violated ILO Conventions, some labour laws in Botswana are contradictory to each other, some not aligned to international labour standards,” Motshegwa further reiterated Rari’s sentiments.