Big budgets won’t change voting minds

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 12, 2024 06:00

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) this week revealed that it has registered 747,601 eligible voters in the first phase of voters’ registration, which is a decline of 11, 177 voters compared to the same time in 2019. The unemployment rate is currently at 25.9% and it is regarded as one of the reasons which keep young people from the registration and polling stations. Serame proposed an expansionary budget indicating that it will, “create opportunities for all to play a meaningful role and contribute to economic transformation”. This year’s government spending had grown to P102 billion from last year’s P88.8 billion. After the minister announced the big budget, Mmegi visited different wards in Ramotswa where a myriad of problems were raised. The issues ranged from unemployment, high cost of living and less development in the areas amongst others.

Kenewang Gababolelwe (32) said; “I have a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities, but I can’t find a job. It’s hard to get a job unless you know someone. So why should I even bother voting, when I’m struggling to make ends meet?” She said just because the government presents a big budget, it does not mean it will culminate into job creation. Gababolelwe also feels that politicians are only trying to entice voters with promises during election season, rather than actually making good on those promises. For his part, Martin Sewagodimo said it is time for government to create employment if it wants them to take part in electoral process. “Voting is a way for citizens to petition the government and hold them accountable. Once the elections are over, politicians do not care about people, hence the affected youth do not want to take part in registering for elections or voting. Whether we vote or not, our lives will not change. The cost of living is high and the time I will be taking to queue to vote, is very important to me as I need it to do a piece job that could change my life,” Sewagodimo said.

Marble Tshegofatso said that budgets are made with elections in mind, and that the resources are often spent on projects that benefit a select few, rather than the ordinary people. Tshegofatso said that not only are the elections themselves expensive, but they are also diverting money from other areas that need funding, like the private sector. She said the lack of support for the private sector is leading to stagnant wages, which is hurting ordinary people. Furthermore, Tshegofatso said in order for the government to truly support the private sector, it must take steps to ensure that companies are improving the working conditions and salaries of their employees. Michael Sehularo-Kabelo said unemployment is a very serious issue in villages compared to towns. “A lot of the unemployed youth are actually college graduates, and there aren’t any programmes specifically designed to help them. This is a different group of people than those who dropped out of school earlier on and are now hustling to make a living,” he said. He said government needs to recognise this difference and tailor programmes to the needs of both groups.

Meanwhile, Statistics Botswana’s quarterly Labour Force Module which shows results for data collected in the third quarter of 2023 (July to September 2023) reveals that female unemployment rate was estimated at 27.6% while males recorded 24.2%. Unemployment rate has been increasing from quarter to quarter since the inception of the survey, except for the last quarter of 2022 where a decline in the rate was recorded. In September 2019, the rate was recorded at 20.7 %. The following quarter (by end December of 2019), 22.2% was recorded whilst by the end of March 2020 and Q4 2020 23.2% and 24.5 % were recorded respectively. By the end of December 2021, the rate continued to go up, reaching 26.0 %. The annual change between October to December of 2019 and same period of 2020 showed an increase of 2.3 percent in the overall unemployment rate. Between October to December 2021 and same period in 2022, an annual decline of 0.6 percent was recorded. The results of the survey show an increase of 5.2 percent in the unemployment rate from end of September 2019 to end of September 2023. The estimated extended unemployment rate by the end of September 2023 was 31.2 %, a decrease of 0.2 percent compared to 31.4% recorded in end of December 2022. Youth unemployment rate for the third quarter 2023 was estimated at 34.4%. Females recorded unemployment rate of 37.4 % compared to 31.2 % recorded by their male counterparts.

However, unemployment rate by age group shows that the rate was highest in age group 15-17 with 85.5 %. Age group 18-19 recorded 55.3 %, followed by Age group 20-24 with 44.4 %. Secondary school graduates were the most affected by unemployment, accounting for 71.3 % of all unemployed youth, followed by university graduates (11.5 %). Primary levers and Technical/ Vocational holders each recorded 5.2 percent and 4.2 percent. Unemployed secondary school graduates make 48.8% of the male population and 51.2 % of the female population.