Remembering the historic 2011 strike

Power in the people: Workers during the 2011 strike
Power in the people: Workers during the 2011 strike

Since the historic public service strike which began on April 18, 2011, a lot has been reported in the media about the monumental action. Five years later, Staff Writer, OARABILE MOSIKARE revisits the dusty notebook in which he chronicled a sojourn he took to five villages and a town in the Central and North East District, securing first hand information on the strike

On April 19, 2011 the second day of the strike I joined three union leaders who were assigned the duty of assessing the effect of the strike in the Central and North East District. I got a lift from Botswana Land Boards Local Authorities and Health Workers Union (BLLAWHU) secretary general Ketlhalefile Motshegwa.

On this mission he was accompanied by Botswana Public Employees Union national organising and international relations secretary, Pambana Masame and National Amalgamated Local and Central Government and Parastatal Manual Workers’ Union (NALCGPMWU) deputy chairperson, the late Sammy Sithole [May his revolutionary soul rest in peace].

Editor's Comment
Two-tier education system demands action

Whilst we join Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and other stakeholders in commending the rise in top grades, a testament to the unwavering effort of many teachers and pupils, this progress is fundamentally shadowed by a failing that shames our society. The stark, persistent urban-rural divide is not just a statistic, but an active betrayal of thousands of young Batswana.The figures are a damning indictment. When pass rates in...

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