People's morale is at an all-time low, while anger is evident on our roads, in our offices where sullen faces greet customers, and in the shops where assistants suffer from smile-deficiency. We see this in the policemen and women who snarl and bark at people with little regard for their feelings or the age of the person on the wrong end of the stick. That anger is present in teachers who beat pupils to a pulp and in the parents who snuff the life out of their own children. We hear words of discontent from organs of state security and public order who believe others are preferred to them. The government's dealings with the media and perceived opponents are predicated on such anger, as is its attitude towards Basarwa and the reaction of the indigenes.
For many years now, strong undercurrents of ethnic discontent have been evident, especially among the so-called minority tribes. When the language question was removed from the census list of questions recently, we at Mmegi made known our belief that government was afraid that answers would reveal the true size of each tribal grouping, thus exposing the bloated posturing of some, and indeed government's insecurity with its own people. However, government is unlikely to admit to this reality. The anger and frustration that permeates our society is also evident in our politics.
