A rejoinder to BOFEPUSU presidential press release �Masego Mogwera�
| Tuesday October 14, 2014 08:00
The Editor,
I have been in the labour politics for a very long time occupying different positions and also studying trade union ideology. In that journey of trying to emancipate the working class from the shackles of capitalism what I realised is that there is an invisible line between Trade Unionism and Politics.
The working class cannot keep on addressing bread and butter issues while the politicians do not respect the laws that they have enacted which its purposes was to resolve issues of the working class.
The working class as an organised social class should dictate to those who aspire or those who are in power through a ballot as to how they should deal with the workers concerns.
We take into consideration that the workers in different trade unions support different political parties, however the calamity that the workers of Botswana find themselves in dictate that some strategic alliances should be formed with a party that seems to answer the plight of the workers and the society at large.
This has happened before in different countries whereby we saw Trade Unions supporting some political parties as a matter of exigency due to the material conditions prevalent now.
There is no neutrality or non partisan toward politics despite the fact that unions are made up of different people with different political orientation.
Party colours should not blinker our visions, we must be realistic and come up with a solution as to how we can deal with the devilish government that breaks our hearts every day rather than to say we must be apolitical.
The positions that we adopt in different discourses define how we think as a particular Trade Union. This article is a sequel to some BOPEU members particularly the person of BOFEPUSU president namely Masego Mogwera.
She awash almost all the news papers that a decision to support a confluence of opposition parties to unseat the BDP regime was never taken by BOFEPUSU.
These are words of a hypocrite. Words of an angel of the ruling oligarchies.
These are words of that woman whom we saw during the 2011 public servants strike hugging and kissing the then Minister Masisi. So what would you expect from such a person. This woman who is in the Central Committee of BOPEU formerly BCSA is a renowned sweetheart or darling of the current government.
I took part in the 2011 Public Servants strike from the first day to the last day of the struggle when comrades were arrested by the central police station and subsequently rescued by Duma Boko. All along the strikers were shouting at the topest of their voice saying, “We need regime change”.
The idea of Umbrella For Democratic Change was mooted consequently to the deaf ear of the Government.
I remember when all the three opposition party leaders exchanged T-shirts at a well-attended rally at white city location in Gaborone. I think some of those leaders and Mogwera thought that 2014 would never come because they did not show any dissenting voice at that time.
So it is surprising for a person of Mogwera’s position to renege from the position of our beloved members who are a victim of the current diabolic system.
From time immemorial in the entire world there is nowhere were changes of government took place without the participation of the working class. This is because the unions as social groups are organised and they know what is happening in the social, political or economic stratum. This is also exacerbated by the fact that they are the creators of the economy. So how are they expected to behave like bystanders when their rights are trampled upon?
There is something amiss with people of Mogwera’s thoughts who purport to represent the workers. The government of the day does not respect bargain council. Infact it has rendered it irrelevant. The purchasing power is eroded due to commodities expensiveness.
Civil liberties are suffocated everyday. So people like Mogwera want the workers of this country to stand by the wayside and watch these maladies? No we cannot. The workers must act now to remove this demonic government, this is called regime change and replace it with UDC. This happened in the old Russia when the workers removed Tsar Nicholas II who was a monarch. The workers did so assisting the Communist Party.
If the workers are going to stay and watch the state of affairs it will be equal to leaving a purposeless life. Changes are ushered by people who take part or who contribute to their metamorphosis. I would like to tell Mogwera that no worker takes her seriously because she keeps on gallivanting from one point to another as if some people are thinking for her. I salute all the multitudes of BOPEU members who embrace change.
I call all the progressive workers of this country and the entire society to rally behind the idea of BOFEPUSU in its support of the UDC to remove this recalcitrant government on the 24th October revolution of 2014.
I also advice Mogwera that of course she can delay changes to maintain the statusquo but she can not stop it once it has arrived because it is like a flood.
Yours in struggle,
Cde Bush Laconte