"What's wrong with not speaking English fluently?"

DIRANG LEKUNTWANE
Correspondent | Friday June 17, 2011 00:00

 

Speaking at a rally here recently, Tshireletso said while she may not be fluent in the English language, she could beat her critics in Russian.

'It was not by mistake that I lived in Russia for two-and-a-half years learning the Russian language, and I pride myself in that,' she said. 'I also stayed in America for six months and I know America like nobody's business, but I don't talk about it unnecessarily.'

While English may be a factor for making it in politics, it was not a barrier, she added. 'Our parents did not prioritise school,' she went on. 'Instead we spent a lot of time at ploughing fields from where we walked long distances to school.

'It is not by choice that some of us are uneducated. It is because of the conditions of the times in the past. So what's wrong with us not being fluent in English?'

Although so-called educated people are fond of belittling her for her lack of education, she came out the best in every contest. 'I became a councillor, an MP and am now an assistant minister,' she noted. 'Why don't those people use their education to out-compete me?'

At another venue subsequently, Tshireletso said the abusive songs that striking civil servants recently sang would not be ignored because they were in reference to the President and cabinet ministers.

'Such people do not have manners,' she said. 'But if people do not respect elders, there is not much we can do because charity is supposed to begin at home.'

She was speaking at a joint teachers and parents meeting at Morale Junior School. 'We are here to urge you to talk to your children about the importance of education,' she said.  'Some of us did not attend school properly because our parents did not prioritise education.'