After a hectic elective congress in Palapye, where BOSETU ushered in new members to the executive committee, all eyes are on how the two factions—BOSETU First and Restoration—will collaborate moving forward.
Amidst this tense atmosphere, The Voice Reporter, DANIEL CHIDA brings you an interview with Oreeditse Nyatso, a seasoned public servant in his late 30s, now serving his second term as Publicity Secretary of BOSETU.
A proud native of Molepolole, Nyatso is deeply passionate about the development and well-being of his village and its people.
Nyatso’s political journey has been profoundly shaped by his mentor and godfather, the late Gomolemo Motswaledi.
Motswaledi, who faced immense rejection, humiliation and ultimately death in his pursuit of change of government, left an indelible mark on Nyatso’s activism.
Your team has faced accusations of being sponsored by the ruling party and the DIS in the past elections. How do you respond to such allegations now that your team has won a significant number of seats?
The issue of BDP involvement in our elections is old and boring to say the least.
We have demonstrated that it started when the then President, Shandukani Hlabano challenged for presidency in Maun.
It was rife again in 2021 when Mannathoko challenged Secretary General.
The same script and the same author again said the same thing this year.
This however, never bothered our team because it is BOSETU members who gave us a go ahead to contest the election; they were the ones who came with our cardinal points of where they want the union to go.
The accusations backfired on those who propagated them, we were vindicated.
Despite winning 11 seats, your team lost key positions, including the Presidency and Deputy Secretary General. How do you plan to work with the new leadership team to ensure unity within?
We knew that we were not going to win every position, at maximum; we thought we were going to win three seats but 11 is a significant number.
If we do thorough analysis, we have won both the Presidency and Vice Secretary General ( NATEX had 13 blocked votes).
We are however, appreciate delegates who stood with us, financed our travels, and prayed for us during the entire period.
We are ready to serve BOSETU members, as the delegates have directed us to work together.
We are not working for BOSETU First or Restoration, we are working for BOSETU.
You’ve promised to take the union in the right direction, what specific changes or initiatives can union members expect under your leadership as Publicity Secretary?
For the past term, my focus was on setting up communication infrastructure for the union.
We have a functional website, an online newspaper and a podcast.
For this term, we are going to focus more on sustainability of the desk. I yearn for a self sustaining desk where different stakeholders can place adverts on our platforms to reach our members.
These funds will them be used to reward teachers who produce content for either the podcast of newspaper.
Teachers are creative and I intend to create a platform where their creativity could be exposed to fellow comrades and the world.
Given the controversy surrounding the recent elections, how do you intend to rebuild trust and credibility with union members who may be skeptical of your team’s intentions?
The good thing about Restoration is that we are not a faction; we are a movement with an aim to end factions within BOSETU.
We are accommodative and tolerant to divergent views.
In the past elections; Edwin Maitshoko, Waunja Likius, Mompati Peolwane and Morwesi Ramoloko were initially subscribing to BOSETU First faction and they joined the restoration movement with the sole purpose of ending factions.
It is evident that those who are sceptical of our teams’ intentions are those who have been benefiting individually from alignment to BOSETU First.
We are credible individuals and we are going to fight for the welfare of teachers, we are going to lobby for the resuscitation of the bargaining council as well as bargaining better offers for teachers.
How does your team plan to engage with the government and other stakeholders to advance the interests of BOSETU, especially considering the political sensitivities involved?
The survival and relevance of any trade union movement is based on its ability to organize its members for a certain cause.
We will first aim to empower our regional and branch structures on organising and importance of collectively.
We are further going to lobby government for policy and welfare issues.
Our advocacy and lobbying should resonate with the interests of our members.
Anything outside our members’ interests will not be entertained.
What do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing BOSETU right now, and how does your team plan to address them?
Our challenges are internal and external.
Internally, we spend a lot of time doing politics and working hard to make each other irrelevant.
We pay less attention to the mandate of the union.
My President Radikolo however, pledged to the congress to disband the lobbies and focus on the union mandate.
Externally, our challenge is welfare issues that are pending.
Some are before courts and others are at bargaining table.
These demoralise teachers and teaching becomes a daunting task.
How will you ensure transparency and accountability in your communication with BOSETU members, particularly given the past allegations against your team?
I have always communicated with members; website is awash with communiqué from the union.
A shortfall in our communication mediums is probably neglecting the traditional BOSETU Corner.
This is one area that needs to be resuscitated by the offices relevant as it involves employees.
With the mix of seats won and lost, how do you expect the union’s policies and direction to change, if at all, under the current leadership?
My team has no plan of destroying any progress made by the past executive.
It’s a baton, we have received it and we will run with it.
What is going to change is our speed and exchange technique to the next leaders.
BOSETU is a progressive organization and those who are new fit easily because they have not been far from operations.
Unity and supporting each other is key in delivering union mandate.
We are heading to general elections, what is your message?
October 30th has been declared a day for general elections.
I urge teachers to seriously interrogate the manifestos of different parties and vote for parties that speak our language.
BOFEPUSU will on 14th September, hold its Governing Council and one of the key agenda items will be how we are going to approach the elections.
We will keep you posted.
