Discontent grows in Botswana - 'Africa's Switzerland'

By Laszlo Trankovits Oct 9, 2011, 14:55 GMT

Gaborone - Discontent with political leaders is mounting in Botswana, which has long been held up as a model of democratic governance in Africa.

Botswana's rich mineral resources have allowed the South African country to invest in its future, but many citizens now criticize President Ian Khama, 58.

The former military pilot has ruled the country of 2 million since 2008.

'We revere his father, our first president, Seretse Khama,' said fruit seller Monkagedi Dithlokwa, who plies his trade at the central market in Gaborone.

'Ian Khama is authoritarian and doesn't listen,' the 52-year-old added.

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party's (BDP) secretary-general Kentse Rammidi plunged his party into a crisis by his resignation recently, bemoaning a lack of internal democracy and the 'one-man-show' style of Khama.

Rammidi's decision followed a move by Labour and Home Affairs Minister Peter Siele to declare teaching, veterinary services and diamond sorting to be essential services. That barred workers in those sectors from striking in the future.

Some also attribute Khama's unpopularity to his British mother and to the fact that he is not married, which is unusual for a top-level politician.

However, the president has also had successes in recent months.

Above all, the diamond trading company De Beers announced that it would relocate its sorting and trading division to Botswana by the end of 2013, increasing the country's chances of becoming a global diamond centre.

Botswana is already known as the 'Switzerland of Africa' and can rely on the support of Western countries, whose diplomats have given positive assessments of its democracy, legal system and economy.

In June, US First Lady Michelle Obama visited Botswana with her two daughters, in a further signal of Western support.

Botswana's pro-Western stance has also sparked negative reactions in the region. Julius Malema, leader of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League in South Africa, slammed the BDP as 'a footstool of imperialism' and as a 'security threat' to Africa.

Views like Malema's have had little effect on Khama's pro-Western policies, but diplomats in Gaborone are concerned about rising political and social tensions in the country.

Botswana had to deal with social unrest last spring for the first time in many years. Demonstrations and strikes by tens of thousands of public sector employees began with demands for a 16-per-cent pay rise, but soon other issues also came to the fore.

Khama crushed the protests with the help of mass layoffs and heavy-handed police intervention.

The situation calmed down after Khama conceded civil servants a 3-per-cent pay rise, but there is a sense that he may only have secured a pyrrhic victory as discontent remains.

'How is anyone supposed to live on 2,500 pulas (about 330 dollars) a month?' elementary schoolteacher Emma Mmerike asked. A litre of milk, for instance, costs around 1,60 dollars.

The official unemployment rate is running at 25 per cent, but trade unions and opposition parties believe the real rate to be higher.

Botswana has been able to offer its citizens social benefits unusual in Africa, such as free health care and education, but schools and hospitals often lack quality personnel.

Unions meanwhile see Khama as increasingly curbing workers' rights, and have taken legal action against new measures such as the state's right to end deductions of union fees from state workers' pay.

Such moves act as a curb on opposition activity, undermining democracy in Botswana, unions complain.