Christian John Makgala and Ikanyeng Stonto Malila, The 2011 BOFEPUSU Strike: A Story of the Fight for Restoration of Workers Purchasing Power

Abstract

This book presents the 2011 Botswana Federation of Public Service Unions (BOFEPUSU) strike as ‘an eye-opener to those interested in the country’s socio-economic dynamics’ (p.20). The authors admirably knit together the pieces of a complex and fast-moving event into a readable prose. They call this strike ‘a marathon public strike’ (pp.xiii) and ‘historic’ (p.65) because it was ‘the longest strike the country has ever seen’ (p.75). Before this strike, Botswana had a labour force which was deemed ‘non-militant’ (p.19). The government took this as an advantage as it believed that a ‘docile’ workforce would assist in luring the much-needed foreign direct investment (FDI). The status quo, however, swiftly changed in 2007 when several civil associations transformed into real trade unions. The government of Botswana had no chance but to grudgingly allow this to happen ‘because of global trends’ (p.28). These civil service trade unions came under one umbrella, BOFEPUSU. The government tried to de-register it leading to litigation, which the labour federation won. ‘This atmosphere of antagonism was the context in which the 2011 strike unfolded’ (p.30).