In these two excellent articles public sector workers get to speak without the filter of the union ledership. I Whither Botswana, the author is (and has been all along) critical of the strike. Nevertheless, one gets a real feel for the internal strife boiling up in the rank and file.
The following quotation from a letter to the press by one of the unionists illustrates this clearly: "We are told that (Johnson) Motshwarakgole and his ilk instructed the police to disperse the striking workers.
The BOFEPUSU [Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions] leadership has betrayed the struggle! ... I have always maintained that the reality that the BOFEPUSU leadership live under [is] conspicuously different from the reality of the striking workers. Most of the leadership employed by the unions is as at an E-scale. ... They drive expensive vehicles and live in suburbs around Gaborone. Some are entrepreneurs running their business on the sides. On the other side union members range from A to D-scales and live in locations such as Naledi, Broadhurst, Mogoditshane, Tlokweng etc. ... Most union members rely on public transport to get to work while others walk to work. These are parallel realities. ..." (Mmegi, 15 June 2011).
http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=2&aid=1657&dir=2011/June/Friday17
And this piece from a South African paper deals with Khama in a surprisingly frank way. Worth a read.
Bokang Nsala, a 25-year-old unemployed journalism graduate, said: "Welcome to Africa" -- an apparent dig at the scenes of violence, police crackdowns and allegations of dictatorship that are engulfing Botswana.
"The people in Botswana are disappointed and angry and this strike has revealed to the whole world that our democracy is just phoney," Nsala said.
http://mg.co.za/article/2011-06-17-strongman-khama-forces-union-retreat/
