Response to State of the Nation Address (II)
Dumelang Saleshando | Friday November 15, 2013 16:23
This so-called economic miracle has not transformed the lives of the ordinary Batswana who continue to be passive onlookers in the sharing of the wealth created by theirforefather as well as themselves. The beneficiaries of this wealth have over the years been those in power, their relatives, their local cronies and international collaborators. Time has come for us to ask government to account for its political and economic mismanagement of our affairs. Why has the wealth of the country fallen in the hands of a minority who are excessively wealthy while the majority remain classified as the low income group? Why should the majority of the citizens only have public facilities to show as their share of our national wealth? Given that we are a middle income country, why should the majority of the working class in our country be of low income status and not middle class?
The major contributors of this wealth has been mineral revenues and lately tourism which are both in the hands of foreign interests while our own people continue to be passive participants. Many other sectors like finance, manufacturing as well as trade are dominated by foreigners. Mineral products such as copper, nickel, gold and by- products of beef industry are exported in raw form as government has not seen it imperative to create processing plants that would bring millions of dollars in export revenue in addition to job creation. Technological transfer cannot be attained when local products are shipped in raw state.
The current citizen empowerment policy is a toothless instrument as it does not compel anybody to implement it. As we all know a policy has no force of law. A law of citizen empowerment is an urgent imperative. We demand that relevant laws be enacted to ensure that citizens are brought on board and those who disregard this national calling should not do business with government. Serious economic empowerment and beneficiation of local raw material has remained a pipedream under the BDP government. Countless job opportunities were transferred to Europe and Asia including South Africa as a consequence of export of unprocessed diamond, soda ash, copper and nickel as well as hides and skins from cattle. Madam Speaker, we call for the establishmentof industries that use local raw material and provide export incentive for the export of finished products. In paragraph 38 to 40 of his speech the President makes reference to the success story of tender sales for diamonds. The one thing the president fails to say is how many of our indigenous people participated as part of the 76 companies from the world's major diamond centres and the percentage of their participation. We remain convinced that there is need for the introduction of a law on citizen economic empowerment to give effect to the policy.
The House will recall, Madam speaker that in 1966, Botswana was one of the poorest 10 in the world, but today it is regarded as a middle income country whose per capita income is about P16,000. The wealth that is being generated has not touched the lives of the majority of our citizens in a positive way as they still depend on handouts in the form of blankets, foodstuffs and clothing. Batswana are a proud people who prefer to provide for themselves through their sweat. Handouts diminishes one's self esteem and deals a devastating blow to their dignity. Income distribution in this country is one of the most skewed in the world as wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few. Eighty percent of the nation's wealth is in the hands of hardly 10% of the population with over 40 % with virtually nothing of economic value. The honourable house will note that the June 2011 government statistics revealed that Batswana employed in various sectors of the economy were paid a fraction of what their foreign counterparts got as monthly salaries. In the agricultural sector citizen male workers in the formal sector received an average of P1,037 per month while foreigners in the same were paid P4,207. This represents 315% more than the local workers. In the mining sector that has been responsible for the economic growth over the years, citizens were being paid an average of P10,772 per month while their foreign counterparts earn an average of P40,048 per month. As if this disparity was not too much, government that is accountable to the voters of this nation pays citizen civil servants an average of P6,059 per month while expatriates earn twice as much P12,004 per month. No doubt our economy works for foreign capital owners and fellow travellers.
Employment statistics indicate that the influx of foreign workers in this country in the construction and wholesale/retail subsectors in the last four years has increased significantly as more Asian people particularly Chinese come to our shores. In the retail industry, quality and standard of consumer goods have been greatly compromisedas goods worth millions of counterfeit products are confiscated on a regular basis by the police from time to time. Local village traders have closed shop on the face of this invasion by foreign traders who sell cheap and mostly counterfeit goods. Local traders in most of the major centres have been displaced as there is no protection from government. We have a government that cares less about its people. Our leaders derive solace in parading the poor on television and giving them food and blankets.
In the construction industry many public projects of major importance to the economy have experienced cost and time overruns that far exceed acceptable deviations. The Chinese have been involved in all major construction works such as dams, roads, airports and stadia but none was completed within stipulated time or budgeted funds. Most if not all are uncompleted three to four years after their original agreed period. Madam Speaker, it is shocking that in spite of all these, no single person has been held to account. Stadia in Francistown and Gaborone although expected to be completed long before the June 2010 World Cup, are today not 100% complete and usable with the Francistown stadium still to be open to the public. The airports also in the same cities to this day, we have no idea when they will be completed after billions of pula in cost overruns was spent. Morupule power project, where close to P13 billion has been spent, seems to be prone to frequent technical failures, hence continuous power outages since last year. In 2009 it was expected that by 2012 the country would be a net exporter of power. Unfortunately today we are experiencing power cuts never experienced in 47 years.
There are more Batswana seeking to enter the job market more than ever before, yet the economy has no ability to generate enough jobs to absorb a fraction of those actively looking for jobs. Noting the swelling ranks of the unemployed youth, the only thing that the head of state could do was to advise graduates from various institutions to join the Ipelegeng programme. The president seems not to appreciate that when we improve the quality of life of our people, not through Ipelegeng, we are also laying a basis for a future of hope for our children and grandchildren. The BDP government ought to know that if there is a problem of unemployment it is the youth who suffer most as is the case now, if there are high incidences of crime, it is the youth who are misused as foot-soldiers and consumers of illegal substances. We expect the president in times like this to come up with initiatives that would have direct impact in absorbing many of the youth that roam our streets with any gainful employment that is sustainable. This clearly indicates that although the official unemployment rate is about 20%, there is more hidden unemployment that could be running between 40 and 50%. Less than 20% of school leavers (secondary, tertiary and technical school) find jobs in their first nine months of searching. Tirelo Sechaba, in whatever form, cannot be an answer to the problem of youth unemployment.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) which is a necessary ingredient for economic growth and sustainable development is below expected level. The high level of deportation of investors who have lived here for many years has had serious adverse effects on many potential investors who are worried by the current practice that seems to be a norm. There are many people who have lived here for 10 to 20 years running their businesses who have been declared prohibited immigrants. Botswana needs to seriously re-visit this area of concern. The perception of Botswana in the eyes of many countries is negative and this does not augur well for our efforts to attract FDI. The president could not in his address even state how many investors we have attracted as a county since his last address. The statistics are embarrassing. The Minister of Agriculture has completely abdicated his responsibilityto safeguard the interests of farmers and the sector itself. The BMC which offered the farmers a reliable marketing collapsed under the ministers' watch and appears to care less about the organisation's future save to concentrate on his lions whose acquisition remains suspect. There is no concerted effort by government to deal with the Foot and Mouth Disease on a permanent basis given that the country produces vaccine for the disease. Government is not doing much to look for alternative markets for our beef. It has taken government too long to re-stock areas which were affected by FMD two years ago. Border fences along the north eastern part remained poorly maintained and continue to pose a threat of the disease re-emerging shortly after the restocking exercise. Arable farming too does not get the necessary attention from the ministry. The yearly output does not seem to match the input provided by government by way of subsidies. This means that government has to consider providing more subsidies on output than inputs as an incentive to producers. In terms of the prevailing arrangement government is funding'seed buriers'. There are no cash incentives for arable farmers for their produce. The BCP advocates for guaranteed market for arable farmers and cash incentives for their products. Subsidies should go to the buying prices as they do in the USA and Brazil.
The deteriorating standards of education
In my response to the State of the Nation address last year, I pointed out to the crisis in our education system as epitomised by the drop in the quality of the results attained. At the time, there was only one senior secondary school with a pass rate of over 50%. At the time, the leader of the house said the crisis only existed in our minds and that all is well with our education system. This year, not a single school could attain a pass rate of over 50%, meaning that the boat is sinking deeper and the denial by the leadership possibly getting stronger. Most of the leading private schools are able to post 100% pass rates as the public schools performance deteriorates.
As more parents flee to private schools in a desperate attempt to secure their children's future, the demand for private education is on the rise, resulting in the fees charged by the private schools increasing beyond reach for most young professionals who are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Young parents who dedicate their meagre resources to educating their children deserve to get government support. We will in due course present proposals to this house to consider making education expenses tax deductible.We welcome the decision by government to roll one year reception classes in selected schools. There is need to introduce properly conceived pre-primary education for all children before they enrol for standard one. The one year programme is still a far cry when compared to what is offered by private institutions.Government must come to the realisation that the eight hour working day model is not appropriate for the teaching service. There is a need to engage the teacher trade unions over this matter and pursue a model that best accommodates the peculiarities of the teaching profession. The Ministry of Education leadership has surprisingly engaged in a unending war with Student Representative Councils in tertiary institutions. While SRC's used to be a cherished opportunity for students to refine their leadership skills, they have now become the fastest route for one to lose their tertiary sponsorship. We wish to call upon the Ministry to reconsider its approach in dealing with student leaders.
Continues next week