Are We Lazy By Nature?

Out To Lunch
SHAMEELA WINSTON | Monday November 24, 2008 00:00

It seems so widespread that one wonders if those who are new to the country are 'orientated' to manage their expectations when dealing with us, a lazy nation unfamiliar with service and productivity standards.

This characterisation is disturbing because of the inherent '-isms' that come with it. I mean, are we talking about all Batswana, including the foreign nationals who have naturalised, or just the indigenous locals, or natives if you will, who have somehow inherited this gene?

What upsets me the most about this is, well, everything. It's divisive and insulting. Foreigners say we are lazy, and amongst ourselves, we point fingers along tribal lines, with some believing that some tribal groups are better wired for productivity than others. You must have come across this, surely. We've been branded lazy, useless, and unproductive; we're apparently incapable of smiling at customers, and some have gone as far as to say we are quite stupid.

We're apparently incapable of compassion, which is why no patient wants the misfortune of having a Motswana nurse. Apparently,we are unreliable and require close supervision. In terms of remuneration, we are seen to deserve less than what expatriates should get. We talk too much and too loudly, and we can't hold confidential information. Socially, it is widely accepted that Batswana men are promiscuous and commitment phobic, while Batswana women are 'easy'.

We also drink too much. What did I leave out?
Tragically, we as Batswana have internalised this. When recruiting for our homes or our farms, we seek out Zimbabweans because they 'work hard'. On the other hand, when they look for work, Batswana domestics prefer white employers over Batswana madams because they are fair, and 'ba duela'. Sadly, instead of challenging this, some of us distance ourselves and deny our Botswana-ness by emphasising our English accents, or simply refusing to speak Setswana.

Well, I will acknowledge that there are certainly difficulties in terms of service delivery and productivity. But, I reject that we, as Batswana, have a monopoly on any of this. I can tell you, whenever I go abroad, as soon as the novelty of being wherever it is wears off, I start to notice 'things' that would never happen at home. For one thing, I know I detest the brisk, coldly efficient, 'professional' demeanour of service providers over there, and I tend to miss the general warmth and sense of community here, for instance, in the way we greet each other regardless of whether or not we know each other or expect to do business.

Ok, I accept we may be somewhat behind other people, but in the pursuit of global competitiveness, let us put things in perspective. Just 40 odd years ago, Botswana was a different place altogether. We were an agrarian and subsistence-based economy, and if you wanted to work for money, you'd be a migrant labourer on a South African mine, or a domestic worker somewhere in Gauteng.

Or maybe you could stay at home and be a policeman, or a soldier. Some were fortunate enough to attend school in Tigerkloof, or Fort Hare, or maybe Lesotho or Swaziland, and come back as teachers, or nurses.

When our economic structures took shape, the farmers could now sell to BMC, and the migrant labourers could now ply their trade locally at our own mines, where they largely held the positions of handymen, artisans and eventually foremen, while our women could now be employed as domestics in the mushrooming local white communities, or cleaners and tea ladies in the local companies. It was still the cheap labour type of employment, and people still had their 'rural' homes and families and structures to return to at the weekends.

What we have today is an entirely different world, and I think we have survived the transition very well actually, considering how we have had to hit the ground running with very little in the way of role models and mentors in the various professions we now have. When positions had to be localised, in most instances, there was inadequate preparation and grooming of Batswana candidates, and where they fell short, please, it wasn't about culture, it was that there'd been inadequate preparation.

We are not traditionally a lazy people bagaetsho. Which nation is? What an insult. If you learn nothing else about our culture, learn at least that a lazy person, branded 'motlapa', or 'setshwakga', is scorned and ridiculed. It's not a label one wants to wear because it is not easy to shake off. And given our close family ties, when one is disgraced as 'motlapa'or 'setshwakga', their families share the shame.

The problem then, as far as I can tell, is that we are struggling to establish strong organisational cultures that work for us. A lot of organisations have no structures, processes, policies or operating standards, their vaguely stated goals, performance measures are ambiguous and inconsistent, and role clarity is consequently compromised. Organisations suffer with poor leadership, unclear values and mismanaged resources.

And, even in some of the more sophisticated environments, there is a scant understanding of, and regard for, human resource development. Working environments are not conducive, generally, to the type and level of delivery demanded. This is what has undermined performance, not our culture. Ao! If we were as lazy as to be officially branded thus, our economy would not have come this far. Or are we going to ascribe that survival and success to the foreign nationals who are here as experts? Nnyaa bagaetsho.

Next week, let us look at whether it is true that as Batswana, we are driven by fear and jealousy, and whether we are incapable of affirmation and positive reinforcement.