The minister was captured in a viral video saying a student from Selebi-Phikwe was beaten by five teachers, resulting in the learner being hospitalised. Two teachers’ unions, Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), have since denied the allegations. Both unions say they have investigated the matter across all schools in the former mining town and found no such case occurred. BTU said in a statement that such unverified reports risk damaging the reputation of the profession of educators and undermining the academic achievements the Selebi-Phikwe region is proud of. The union challenged the minister to tell the nation the truth about what she said about the teachers in the Selebi-Phikwe region. "We also request the minister to publicly apologise for the unsubstantiated claims and correct the record through official communication channels," read the BTU statement.
BOSETU secretary-general, Tobokani Rari, told The Monitor that the minister should come out publicly and provide details about where and when the incident occurred. “We have done our investigations and found that no such incident occurred. Now, we challenge the minister to come out publicly and tell us when and which school it happened at. Failure to do so, the minister should retract. “She should then apologise for misleading the nation and bringing the teaching profession into disrepute. It is clear her mission is to destroy the already fragile and limping education ministry. This is a damning allegation,” Rari said.
