The challenges of being young

| Thursday June 20, 2013 00:00

Much has been written about the Soweto Uprising or June 16.  This day, now a public holiday - Youth Day, in South Africa is commemorated across Africa as a day signifying the role of youth in politics, in particular their role in overthrowing apartheid and bringing democracy to South Africa and by extension to the African continent.  June 1-30 has since been declared the month of youth.  We do not intend to belabor this message with the details of June 16 events.

The youth in Botswana should on this day introspect on their role in Botswana politics.  What kind of change is desirable for Botswana?  How can the youth bring about that change?  When the African National Congress (ANC) and its subsidiary organisations as well as other anti-apartheid organisations were banned in the 1960s, they went underground and subsequently the political leadership was either in exile or in prison.  The ANC, which was at the forefront of liberation, was moribund for a long time following the incarceration and exile of its leaders.  It is the youth (and to a large extent, the labour movement) who resuscitated the hope of overthrowing apartheid state.

The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has been at the helm of Botswana politics for 47 years.  Whilst the country has enjoyed accolades as 'exceptional' or a 'shining example of democracy and 'an African Miracle', among other laudatory labels, the challenges facing youth in Botswana are enormous.  The complimentary labels on Botswana's democracy are largely based on the fact that it is the only Sub-Saharan country to have maintained a multiparty democracy in a continent where undemocratic alternatives were common.  This was coupled with relative economic development; the country was poor at independence and it is now classified as an upper-middle income country.

The country's economy was at some point one of the fastest growing in the world and still has good economic indicators such as high per capita income.  However, the aforementioned remarkable story means very little to the youth today. Despite the transformation of Botswana from a poor country at independence to an upper-middle income country today, the economy has failed the young people. Notwithstanding the seemingly good economic record, however, poverty, unemployment and underemployment, income and wealth inequalities and lack of access to economic and business opportunities are worrying features of Botswana's economy.

Graduate internship programme is an obvious admission of failure to create jobs.  The youth in this category are underemployed.  They are employed at low-paying jobs in government, parastatals and private companies and in some cases at jobs that requires less skill or training than they possesses. Youth are the worst affected by the aforementioned contradictions of Botswana's economy. For that reason, they should be concerned about contemporary Botswana and not its developmental trajectory. The young Batswana, unlike their parents or grandparents should not feel obliged to support the ruling elite simply because of what this group did in the past; i.e. transform the country from poor to middle-income.

The youth today should emulate the South African youth in June 16 1976 and ask probing questions about why they can't get a decent job after graduating.  They should ask why they can't graduate from poverty and why income and wealth disparities continue, apparently ad infinitum.  They must demand answers from the powers that be why the country has been unable to diversify its economy from mining to large scale manufacturing base. Young people should ask why the agricultural sector has collapsed.  They should reject the 'economic apartheid' prevailing in Botswana where the economy is in the hands of foreigners and ask why there is no law and deliberate policies on citizen economic empowerment. They should take every opportunity available to them, including voting, to demand explanation on limited access to economic opportunities. Young Batswana should ask the BDP led government why the government tells them to do bee keeping and rabbit rearing/farming when the Chinese are building dams, stadia, roads, bridges, big government buildings and power stations.  They should ask the President why he is busy distributing blankets, food and paraphernalia when they don't have access to land. They should be demanding answers to these pressing questions.  The President should be asked how many people have graduated from poverty in Chanoga, Diphuduhudu and other poverty stricken and wretched areas where he and his ministers held big poverty alleviation picnics.  He should explain to the youth of this country how many people have been emancipated from poverty and have something to show from his initiatives of Ipelegeng, backyard garden, green scorpion and constituency league. Young people in Botswana should reject the manner in which this country's democracy is regressing. Democratic reforms are rejected by the ruling elites. Civil liberties and freedoms are violated with impunity.  Parliamnet is powerless and unable to provide oversight on the executive; it is a rubberstamp legislature.  The judiciary is less independent and the executive dominates appointment of judges.  Trust in the president and his government has diminished. The regime is intolerant of criticism and alternative views.  The political playing field is uneven; elections are free but unfair.  Corruption, economic crime, mismanagement and unethical governance have reached unprecedented levels. Young people of Botswana should rise and fight for democracy and economic freedom and empowerment.

Young Batswana should get the message that the ruling BDP doesn't care about their future. They should vote it out in 2014.They must desist from indifference, including voter apathy. The youth should refrain from drugs and other substance abuse and secure their future by voting for the BCP.  The BCP is the party of choice and a viable alternative; it has answers to the youth problems as espoused in its 1999 Democratic and Development Programme, 1999, 2004 and 2009 election manifestos and in other documents such as the democracy alerts papers and policy position papers.

*Dithapelo Keorapetse is the President of Botswana Congress Party Youth League.