When vendors and strikers become comrades

GSS GROUNDS: The sports and recreation grounds of Gaborone Senior Secondary School are usually just another dust bowl used mainly by people criss-crossing to and from the Main Mall, Extension 12, Extension 9, the University of Botswana, the mosque and other parts of the capital.

For the last four days, however, this plot of red dust has been the Gaborone rendezvous for the historic nationwide public service strike that is planned to last 10 days, giving GSS Grounds an unusually festive and occasionally feisty mood.