Needless to say anyone would expect the group's voice to be louder than any other, whenever human rights are violated. This should especially be the case, when human rights are flagrantly abused in the country. Sadly the once outspoken NGO has remained extremely reticent in the face of obvious government abuses.
While we have no problem with Ditshwanelo hosting other nations' civil rights organisations - as it recently did with the Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ) - it is our belief that the NGO should be more worried about events at home. Yes we are worried about the Zimbabwean situation - which we must add, is improving by the day, while ours appears to be sliding into the ruins Zimbabwe is emerging from. The BOCISCOZ event, which ends today, is meant to update the public on the situation in Zimbabwe, the constitutional review process, electoral reform, national healing and reconciliation. Would it not be wonderful if Ditshwanelo could engage the nation on specific issues to Botswana, the country of its birth and domicile? Surely as things stand now, these are very urgent issues about which Ditshwanelo should already have made its voice heard. A thousand essential service workers, who have dependants, remain sacked from their jobs, schools are intermittently operational, health services are virtually non-existent and people are dying in hospitals, the future of thousands of schoolchildren is in jeopardy. We are hearing reports of excessive force by the police on people during the ongoing public service strike - even on helpless women and children. Strangely Ditshwanelo has remained mum.
