BNF refused permission for solidarity march?

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent | Friday April 29, 2011 00:00

Addressing the workers at the Bus Rank, Selebi-Phikwe West Constituency Assistant Secretary, Boitshoko Kealeboga explained that the idea was to show solidarity with the workers and to hand over a petition to the Selebi-Phikwe District Commissioner (DC). He said that the Police only informed them on Tuesday evening that they would not issue them with a permit to hold the walk.

Kealeboga said that even the DC did nothing despite seeking his intervention. He, however, called upon the workers not to hate the police or the DC because of the incident.

Kealeboga said that he suspect that the instruction might have come from people in the corridors of power. He noted that the workers' struggle has always been the BNF's business over the years.

For his part, BNF Publicity Secretary, Moeti Mohwasa said that the workers' struggles would never end as long as the political leadership does not recognise them. He advised workers not to lose hope and continue fighting for their rights. He pointed out that any political party that takes power must take workers' concerns seriously. He said public service workers have been surviving for the past 36 months without a salary increment.

He stated that the only explanation that the public servants were getting was that the country was still affected by the global economic meltdown. Mohwasa argued that despite that, government projects continue to be implemented because they are deemed to be more important than the workers.

'When civil servants retire, they are forced to join the Ipelegeng Programme because they have no other source of income. They become destitute as if they had never worked for the government. The revenue that they generate for this country does not benefit them. Workers are not enjoying the fruits of their hard work,' he said.

He stated that it was high time the employer gave the workers the 16 percent that they were asking for as soon as possible. He said the government has 'spent lots of money of buying President Ian Khama the Presidential jet forgetting the workers demands'.

Mohwasa said workers must be taught their rights. He also mentioned that the idea of increasing salaries by the same percentage increases poverty because those in the lower scales do not benefit.

Officer Commanding District Number 10, Senior Superintendent Takongwa Mazwiduma told Mmegi that they did not refuse to grant BNF permission. He explained that it was due to some constraints that were beyond their control. He pointed out that the Police are overstretched by the ongoing strike.

Mazwiduma said they did not have the resources to protect the BNF members during the march. He added that the party is welcome to apply for another permit in future. The local police also revealed that they have not received any report about nasty incidents during the strike in the region.  He mentioned that the workers have been well behaved though there have been 'some minor issues' that they managed to resolve.