And well, the other shoe has finally fallen! Finance and Economic Development Minister Thapelo Matsheka might as well have said that, closed his briefcase and left the August House. Amongst those who said something immediately was former Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Bogolo Kenewendo. Her message? Prepare! Prepare for a future where consumption is squeezed as consumer pockets are raided. Prepare to lose your job as businesses decide to survive instead of trade. Prepare to purchase goods below the quality you are used to. Prepare to lose your husband or wife if they are bankruptcy averse. Prepare for an increase in social ills like gender-based violence as individuals within the family unit become more disillusioned as the Botswana dream as a shining example of astute governance crumbles. Prepare! That is what she is saying. It all sounds like a prelude to the end of the diamond era. Francistown as a relic of a golden age and Selebi-Phikwe of copper-nickel, provide illustrious examples. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
And it is the best that we are hoping for as we mobilise the nation to join in our cause – Action for Jobs! It is either we do something right now or forever rue the day we stood by and ignored the desperation of Botswana government’s call for assistance with job creation. In the last installment, a case was made for the private sector’s participation in this long overdue, national project. The private sector is risking its own survival if it fails to invest in its own future. The worst is that the free market will crumble and go into destitution, a situation that will decimate the sector. And that should not be allowed to happen as it will force a change to Batswana’s value of self-reliance. And if Batswana are unable to rely on themselves, then who would they rely on? Perhaps, this is the question to ponder as the nation analyses the budget speech as presented on February 1, 2021. A prediction can be made that should this living generation fail to answer this question, history will decide to cancel it. And do not even think otherwise.
