Message to BLLAWU congress

Correspondent | Friday December 13, 2013 16:42

We are proud and happy as a political party that strives for the rights of workers, the poor and the downtrodden to be  here to deliver this solidarity message. As a progressive popular Democratic movement which was launched in 1966 after the failure of an attempt to unite various opposition parties in the country, we have always through our political rallies, seminars and  educational pamphlets consistently hammered the idea that Botswana could not consider itself free when the workers of this country were exploited. The idea of solidarity with the workers’ struggles was deeply engrained in the consciousness of members of our movement.

It was therefore not accidental that many cadres from the BNF were associated with the emergence of modern trade unionism in Botswana. Cdes like Cde Frank Marumo and Rex Ndzinge come to our minds.  The declaration of May Day as a public holiday and full pay for mothers while on maternity leave came about as a result of agitation by the BNF. Today we are calling for introduction of paternity leave, as taking care of children is not just for mothers.  The government should also take steps to ensure that all women in this country have access to sanitary pads. Access to decent menstrual health should not be for the haves. As we celebrate the 38th anniversary of BLLAWU which started off as BULGASA in 1975, we should acknowledge the wisdom and sacrifices made by those who have led and guided this Union, not forgetting the general membership. We are also specially inspired by the example which BLLAWU has set in attempting a genuine popular democratic transformation of society in the interests of the people of this country. We should not forget the huge socio-economic challenges that our people not only in Botswana but throughout Africa are faced with. There is therefore a need for progressive forces throughout Africa to forge a united front and wage a relentless fight against inequality, depravation, exploitation and all forms of neo-colonialism. We are happy to note the presence of some progressive formations at this Congress. Solidarity and Internationalism should not be abandoned Cdes as it has helped advance the struggles of our people. It brought change in the past and will do so today and in the future. The only difference is that today we are faced with a new set of challenges.

Cdes we need to realise that the material conditions have now changed from what the situation was in the early 1900s. This period gave rise to a revolutionary situation. Russia had set the tone. This changed later. A number of political parties and organised labour failed to acknowledge these changes and wanted to ‘impose the development of the revolution’. This was done in a number of ways like calls for boycotts of elections, refusal to participate in parliaments. A ‘theory of the offensive’ was hatched where they refused to work with reformist unions and parties. The slogan of ‘no compromises’ was upheld.  Lenin identified this tendency as ultra-leftism.  In 1920, he wrote, Left Wing Communism: an Infantile Disorder to counter this tendency. According to him this mistook its desire for revolution for objective reality and conditions. The fact that conditions had changed requiring new strategies and tactics was not seen. What was necessary, Lenin said, was to work alongside the reformist workers and demonstrate to them through common work and joint campaigns that the methods and programme of their leaders were barriers to achieving significant gains for the working class. Lenin said there should not be any confusion between what ‘ought to be’ with what ‘is’. He said that it was ‘‘absurd to formulate a recipe or a general rule of ‘no compromises’ that suits all conditions”. Lenin said it was not always easy to distinguish between necessary and treacherous compromises. Progressives have to avoid battle when it is advantageous to the enemy. As progressives, we must never use common sense as our tools of analyses to understand developments around us. Class analyses should be substituted by elevation of frustrations and emotions.  Workers should be warned against Syndicalism, Economism and Ultra-leftism. You should align yourselves with a political party which will carry your aspiration. It is our believe that this is what informed the workers in their call for the Umbrella.

The argument is that the common enemy is the BDP. The BNF together with the Botswana People’s Party (BPP), The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) responded positively and came up with the Umbrella model as opposed to the Pact model after some deliberations. One of the leaders of these parties, Cde Dumelang Saleshando even suggested that those who walked out of the Umbrella should be punished in the next elections. This was because the Umbrella is the only viable option to ensure Regime Change. Regime Change is to bring about a revolution in terms of how we manage and distribute the resources of our country. The structure of our economy needs serious overhaul urgently.

These parties also came up with harmonised policies.  However after disagreement over allocation of constituencies, the BCP withdrew from the Umbrella. It is up to you now to decide who should be punished. We have to say it is not late for the BCP to reconsider its position and come back to the Umbrella. Workers, peasants and almost everyone in this country wants change. We need to seize this opportunity and effect meaningful transformation of the lives of our people. The ruling BDP was not born as a patriotic movement seeking national independence but purely as a political fraternity club by the colonial settler community and their indigenous disciples, styled and modeled as it were in the fashion of the aborted Zimbabwe/Rhodesia sell out arrangement.

At the BNF we believe that as long as the BDP remains in power, Botswana’s approach to political economy will never be based on the patriotic interests and aspirations of the main indigenous population but on the interests of foreign monopoly capital. Differently put, the BNF is convinced that the BDP neither has the correct ideological foundation, the political ability nor the correct socio-economic formula to transfer Botswana’s political economy from the grip of foreign privilege paddlers to the hands of the indigenous population.

In the final analysis, the BNF’s attitude towards the BDP is that the latter was never born out of an African reaction against colonial exploitation but out of European colonial action against African struggle for genuine national independence.

The BNF is fighting for a government in which all will have meaningful participation. This means that what is aimed at is not the rule or dominance of one group or class, but an alliance in which all groups will have meaningful participation. We struggle for the elimination of inequalities in the level of the economic, social and cultural development of all districts in the country, as well as to laminate and liberate the hearts that are burdened with bourgeois falsehoods.  

At the BNF we are opposed to privatisation in all its forms.  Privatisation as a policy is going to compromise delivery of services to the poor and leads to job loses. Labour brokering should not be allowed as it casualises labour and leads to non-unionised workers. We call upon your Union to take upon itself the challenge of organising non-unionised workers in certain sectors and assist in pushing for social justice. 

Cdes lastly let me assure you that the severe bashing waged by the pro-capitalist Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government have not lessened our high regard for the finest progressive traditions of your movement. We acknowledge your tenacity which has not only inspired us but other progressive formations. You are giants in the struggle for the emancipation of our people.  

 

*Moeti Mohwasa is the Public Secretary for the Botswana National Front