We are informed that Makgabaneng will receive P9 million whilst TEC will get P17.4 million and the objective is that they will help the nation achieve the zero infection rate by national Vision year, 2016. Makgabaneng is a well-known radio drama aired on both Radio Botswana and RB2 in the vernacular and thus understood by a majority of our people. The fund will be spent on producing a TV drama along the lines of Makgabaneng in the hope that it will produce the desired results. The drama will complement the marvellous Botswana Police Service drama, which educates Batswana about various aspects of crime. It also sensitises members of the public, many of whom may not be well-educated, about activities that may put them in trouble or on the wrong side of the law. It explains, too, some pieces of legislation that may not be easily understood by the lay people.Having said that, we take this opportunity once again to plead with those in power to open the television airwaves for young upcoming Batswana filmmakers who are roaming the streets because of stringent requirements that make it impossible for them to break into the industry. Botswana Television (Btv) airs over 95 percent of foreign material, which has no relevance whatsoever to the lives of Batswana. Perhaps this is why the majority of our households benefit from Chinese charitable gesture in the form of Filibao, which offers them an opportunity to watch South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) channels. The programmes that run on SABC are relevant to the lives of Batswana because they were produced by South Africans for South Africans, giving a true picture of activities in their society.
Unfortunately, in Botswana, the television is reserved for the ruling party elite who have gone to the extent of even sabotaging their colleagues within the party. The South African film industry has grown because SABC gave the citizens an opportunity to crawl and grow and learn from their mistakes. As we speak, the industry employs thousands of young South Africans some of whom have graduated to Hollywood in the US, thereby marketing their country worldwide in the process. We know that amongst those in power, there are many who enjoy watching SA soapies and other programmes. The millions of pula that government spends on magwinya (fat cakes) and soup for Ipelegeng workers, constituency tournaments, backyard gardening and other pet project could be re-directed to growing our infant film industry and create sustainable employment for our youth. The same film industry could be a marketing tool for our country - its culture, tourism and people complementing the music industry, which has mellowed over the years. We hope that NACA will inspire other organisations to sponsor young film producers to come up with TV dramas that will educate our citizenry on everything, including climate change, farming, political education, life skills, globalisation issues and others.
