Let’s put to the side that many of you are the ones facilitating corruption in procurement, failing government in the implementation of policies etc. Let’s put that aside. Our biggest contribution (all of us) is our culpability in this whole mess. We prefer being quiet about public issues unless in private. We are the people who have access to leadership, information and could put government and everyone under pressure but what do we do, because we think keeping quiet protects our livelihood, we keep quiet. We tell each gore giving feedback in public messes with 'the bag' or our incomes. And this then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because you become a 'rebel' when you speak out.
This creates a scenario where the middle-class hides from Botswana’s problems by bypassing them. We take our children to private schools and hospitals so we never face how bad the Ministry of Basic Education and Ministry of Health and Wellness [public systems] are. So, we live in these lives of privilege blinded by what the true state of Botswana is because to us 'Botswana' is all about cappuccinos at the Central Business District (CBD) and pastas in Phakalane. We’ve never entered the wards of Marina or talked to a junior secondary school teacher who will tell you that in Gaborone his/her students are sharing four maths books in a class of 35. That they don’t give out calculators and instruments anymore. That students have to ask their parents to print their end of month tests at home and work.
