03 Jul 2014

The leader of Botswana Congress Party (BCP) , Mr Dumelang Saleshando has called on residents of Selebi Phikwe to vote for his party in the coming general elections.

He was speaking at the launch of the party’s parliamentary candidate for Selebi Phikwe West constituency and council ward hopefuls on June 30. He said the party fielded a young, vibrant and intelligent person in Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse for the constituency.

He said it was about time young Batswana played a leading role in the politics of Botswana to better serve the nation. Mr Keorapetse’s resume fit the stature of such young leaders, he said.

“The BCP is the future of this country, give us a chance to govern,” he said. He explained that Mr Keorapetse grew up in Selebi Phikwe and understood better the resident’s needs, especially the youth.

Mr Saleshando said the BCP parliamentary candidate was better placed to represent Selebi Phikwe residents and bring developments to the mining town.

He said Mr Keorapetse had experience holding positions of responsibility as he was a board member of BONELA and a political science lecture at University of Botswana among other.

Mr Saleshando went on to explain that when BCP got into power, one of their focal areas would be to improve the education system. He said the party would create education stages from staring with age three from day care centers, pre-schools to higher learning institutions.

Furthermore, he noted that his organisation would to strive for diamonds to be polished in Botswana instead of Israel. He noted soda ash products and such as salt, fertilizers and soda would be produced in Botswana instead of exporting it to South Africa.

He said the move would create more jobs for Botswana especially for the youth. Meanwhile, Mr Keorapetse said that when elected into office, he would present a motion requesting that Selebi Phikwe Hospital be upgraded and for the bus rank to be renovated.

He explained that the population of Selebi Phikwe had grown over the years and such facilities needed revamping to accommodate the people.

Further, he noted that he will request that the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BUIST) to establish a school of mining campus in Selebi Phikwe.

He also indicated that he would present a question in parliament requesting the government to indicate the number of expatriate companies that were sub contracted at the BCL Mine and the amount of funds the companies were paid.

Mr Keorapetse said he intended to call on government to do an audit on the number of out of school youth, their level of education and explain why such a large number of youth did not have jobs and the way forward to arrest the situation.

He said a major issue of concern that needed looking into was the low salaries of mine workers who worked long hours underground but got a small salary of P1400.

He expressed concern that miners and casual labourers at the BCL Mine worked for many years without converting to the permanent and pensionable cadre.

“How can a person work as a casual labour for 20 years or more in the mine and retire without any pension,” he said.

He went on to denounce rumours that he was not from Selebi Phikwe as he lived in the mining town where he attended primary, junior secondary and senior secondary school.

Mr Keorapetse said his father worked for the BCL Mine for 35 years and both his parents were still residents of the mining town. Ends