National income under capitalism is created by workers, peasants, craftspersons and intellectuals employed in the sphere of material production - industry, agriculture, transport etc. No national income is created in the non-productive sphere such as the government machine, the BDF, the Police, the DIS, medical institutions and universities like UB. All outlays in these non-productive sectors are covered out of national income. The government machine and armed and security forces absorb the bulk of national income and therefore restrict its growth.
The distribution of national income always assumes the class character of the dominant social order, in this case, the capitalist social system obtaining in Botswana. It is carried out in the interest of the exploiters rather than the workers who produce it. The main distribution of national income is between workers and capitalists. Workers receive wages – the product of their necessary labour time, while the different groups of capitalists, namely bankers, land owners, merchants and industrial capitalists appropriate the surplus value – the sum total of the workers’ unpaid surplus labour time – the source of surplus value and profit. After distribution among workers and capitalists then follows a secondary distribution of national income in the form of payments for various services.
