Strike paralyses Govt Written by SAKAREA MAKGAPHA Wednesday, 20 April 2011 00:00 • Soldiers, police officers deployed to borders, courts and mass media complex • Letsholathebe Hospital shut down • Students sent home The impact of the public service strike that started on Monday is threatening to paralyse government. Most government workers did not turn up for work on Monday, hundreds had begun gathering at Gaborone senior secondary schools’ grounds since Sunday, where they chanted songs and slogans and listening to speeches made by union officials. Information reaching The Gazette was that on Monday soldiers were deployed at most border posts to replace immigration and BURS officials who had gone on strike. It is reported that at the Ramokgwebana border post soldiers were seen stamping the passports of people who were entering or leaving Botswana. It is reported that the solders were on training all last week preparing to man key government positions that were badly affected by the strike. At the Broadhurst Magistrate’s Court a police officer acted as an interpreter and read the charge sheet to an accused person. Cases were delayed as court interpreters and clerks took part in the strike. At the Mass Media Complex uniformed police officers and people in plain clothes who were suspected to be members of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) manned the entrance and the reception desk. Government radio, RB 1, aired music the whole day as the daily radio programmes were apparently suspended because of absenteeism due to the strike. The Public Relations Officer of the Botswana Police Service, Assistant Commissioner Christopher Mbulawa told The Gazette that police officers were merely doing the job that they ordinarily do at border posts, the Mass Media Complex and the courts. “They are trained to provide security, so there is nothing wrong with that; even at border posts they have always been there,” he said. It is reported that the Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital in Maun was closed when it became apparent that the majority of nurses had joined other public officers in the strike. The Gazette was unable to obtain a comment from the hospital as the switchboard operator would not transfer calls to management. Attempts to solicit comments on the situation of various public facilities proved futile as government officials who were on duty declined to comment saying they were instructed not to speak to the press unless they (the press) produced letters of authority from senior government personnel. This was said by Mr. Tshebo, acting headmaster of the Gaborone Secondary School (GSS) and Princess Marina Hospital Public Relations Officer, Ms. Kagiso Motsumi. Speaking in an interview with The Gazette, the secretary general of the Botswana Federation of Public Service Unions (BOFEPUSU), Andrew Motsamai, described the strike as a resounding success country wide as most workers had withdrawn their labour. Motsamai said students in most boarding school in the Central District were sent home because the cooks and matrons had joined the strike. The publicity secretary of the Botswana Secondary Schools Teachers Union (BOSETU), Mogomotsi Motshegwa, who was in the Central District on Monday said the students of the Motlhamo Secondary School in Serowe were also sent home because there was no one to cook for them. “Form 4 students are the most affected because they have missed the first term; they were just about to start it and the strike has affected them.” Motshegwa also said Form 5 students who are doing coursework assessment are also affected since they cannot continue with their work. He also said that in Shashe river school at Tonota, soldiers were seen supervising evening studies. “Members of disciplined forces have turned themselves as teachers, this is strange and intimidates students” he said. At the Princess Marina Hospital, a lot of patients stood in queues waiting to be helped by doctors. “This strike has affected us patients in a very negative way. I have been here since 7a.m. and it is now 10:45, but I still haven’t gotten any help. I should be in surgery right now, but I have just been told that the doctor has instructed nurses to send me home,” Ms Sadie Keakile told The Gazette. Another patient who asked to remain anonymous said was referred by a doctor from Maun to see a specialist because the doctor suspected might have cancer. “I am told that the doctor says I should go back home as there is nothing he can do for me today. He did not even specify when I should come back; this has made life difficult for me since I do not live in Gaborone,” he said. A third patient complained that to get paid sick leave he needs a hospital stamp, but there was no one who would certify his papers. Government spokesperson Dr Jeff Ramsay declined to comment on the unfolding events that followed the first day of the public officers’ strike. He advised this reporter to inquire with the Botswana Defence Force and the Botswana Police Service. Last Updated on Wednesday, 20 April 2011 12:26
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