The teachers moved from one ground to another instructing students to follow them while BNSC officials were locked in a meeting. They also did not spare the BNSC executive secretary Kitso Kemoeng, saying he wanted to treat them like kids. This followed the arrival of the police officers as Kemoeng claimed he did not call them. Teachers shouted angrily at him and he had to leave as they (teachers) advanced.
Things took an ugly twist when the teachers almost manhandled one softball official who pleaded with them to leave them (players) in peace. At this point, BNSC executive secretary Kitso Kemoeng had to call in the police. But the officers who responded timely could not solve the issue as they left the grounds while teachers and students started singing at the top of their voices. Teachers, who are also coaches, raised a number of grievances, including allowances, accommodation, and poor sanitation. One teacher, who spoke to Mmegi on condition on anonymity, said it was clear that the games had not been well arranged. The teacher, who pointed out that they reside at the University of Botswana (UB), said they share houses and ablutions with students.
This has led to teachers and students clashing in a number of cases, as students are very noisy. "We are also given only P50 as allowances everyday while district coordinators are given P800 and P50s on top," the teacher said. Teachers wondered why coordinators were given so much money when it is teachers who do so much work from coaching to transporting students. The other complaint was that teachers were given the same t-shirts as students. "We want to be different from students; they could have given us something different and better," said the teacher. Teachers demanded that they at least be given a minimum of P2OO a day. "They refused to discuss the allowance issue before the games because they wanted to cheat us," said another teacher. Some teachers could be heard vowing openly that they would never attend the games again.
The Botswana games were held for the first time with the mandate of bringing children 19 years and under to compete. Sixteen districts were competing in 11 sports codes. It is not known what will happen next as Ntshinogang declined to shed light on the issues raised saying they were still trying to resolve the issues at hand. "We will give you a feedback after everything has been settled," he said.
