04/09/2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4TH SEPTEMBER 2026
STATEMENT BY THE BNF YOUTH LEAGUE ON THE UTTERANCES OF RABASIMANE AND MOTSHWARAKGOLE
1. The Botswana National Front Youth League has noted with concern the reckless utterances made by Messrs Robert Rabasimane and Johnson Motshwarakgole at the Manual Workers Union press conference held on 3 September 2026.
2. In his latest politically motivated attack, Mr Rabasimane admits that he does not know the arrangements of the Duma Boko School, yet immediately described it as “clear looting of government resources” without any modicum of evidence or justification. Had he taken time to establish the facts, he would know that the school and clinic are investor-led projects, approved by Gaborone City Council to ensure critical service delivery for Batswana.
3. His mockery of their prefabricated construction is equally misplaced: similar materials have been used for classrooms at Motswakhumo, Mmaphula, Palapye, Rakops and other public schools, while BUAN’s new laboratories and lecture halls use alternative building technology made from prefabricated construction.
4. Mr Rabasimane’s claim that South Africans performed most of the work while Batswana were left with “minor jobs such as cleaning” also exposes his staggering arrogance and contempt for workers. Cleaning is not minor work. It is essential work performed by the very people whom he claims to represent.
5. The hypocrisy could not be clearer. When Batswana are engaged in the Duma Boko School, Rabasimane dismisses their work as “minor.” When Government turns temporary cleaning, gardening and security work into permanent employment, he attacks that too. A flip-flopper of note, his position always changes; yet his hostility to the UDC remains the same.
6. Their record on collective bargaining is even more revealing. In February, Manual Workers’ attempt to stop the appointment of the PSBC Secretariat was dismissed with costs. The Union has now returned to court with a temporary order freezing all PSBC activity just as salary and conditions-of-service negotiations were due to begin. Rabasimane and Motshwarakgole are simply obsessed with frustrating the bargaining council and then blame Government for the lack of progress.
7. They should also apply their governance standards at home. Mr Motshwarakgole retired as head of Manual Workers, yet the Union created a consultancy position through which he now uses to pursue political campaigns outside union structures while claiming to speak for workers at an astronomical cost to their subscriptions.
8. Mr Motshwarakgole has previously stated that unions must acknowledge what Government gets right and criticise what it gets wrong. That standard should not change simply because Government is now led by the UDC. Mr Rabasimane has already called for the UDC administration to resign. They are entitled to campaign against the UDC, but they should be honest about their political position rather than presenting it as neutral or the collective voice of workers who, despite their remarks, continue to throw their unwavering support behind the UDC government led by President Adv. Duma Gideon Boko.
9. The UDC Government should not be distracted by the idle noise of enemies of the workers’ struggle. It must continue building schools and clinics, creating secure employment, and improving the wages and conditions of working people.
¡KOPANO KE MAATLA!
ISSUED BY THE BOTSWANA NATIONAL FRONT YOUTH LEAGUE
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES
Secretary for Information and Publicity
Cde Leonard Rambwawasvika
Contact No: +267 77 025 777
Email Address: [email protected]
