The Botswana Police Service (BPS) and other security agencies such as the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) have been compelled to favour candidates from marginalised communities over equally-qualified individuals for their upcoming intake after the government imposed a 10 percent quota for marginalised communities.
The latest development come at a time when the Office of the President reportedly instructed the security services to, from now onwards, ensure that Basarwa are given special dispensation when joining such agencies.
There were also unconfirmed reports that as part of the affirmative action adopted by the government recently, the next intake at BPS will be Basarwa only.
Commenting on the matter, BPS spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Dipheko Motube explained that “it is true that 10 percent of our next intake will be from marginalized groups.”
“These are individuals who find themselves disadvantaged because they stay in remote areas. They don’t have access to opportunities that are found in urban areas and big villages,” said Motube.
Motube said the challenges people from marginalized communities face range from among other things, lack of access to opportunities due to lack of communication facilities and “anything that you could think of that makes people in the remote areas unable to have access opportunities.”
The identified areas, according to Motube include among others, Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Maun and some parts of the Central District. Motube said they have engaged social workers across the country to identify individuals who could be eligible for this affirmative action.
“These are people who have attended school, form five school leavers so to speak but have decided to go and stay in remote areas where they come from after completion of their studies due to various reasons,” he said.
Motube confirmed that majority of those who will be illegible for the 10 percent quota could be Basarwa.
“These people will be from Basarwa and other tribes among them Bakalaka and Bakgalagadi. We have established centers in areas such as Tsabong, Kang, Maun, and Mochudi where they can gather for selection,” he said. Motube said the government has realized that individuals from such communities should be part of the workforce and benefit from the country’s economy despite the remoteness of the places from which they come from.
“We will try by all means to ensure that we reach the set target,” he said.
On suggestion that the move could lower the standards in the police, Motube allayed such fears saying the normal strict selection procedure must be followed.
“We won’t compromise the standards and selection will also be based on entry points, these individuals will be screened and vetted. We encourage them to perform well at school so that they meet requirements,” he said. Some of the individuals from the marginalized communities, Motube said will be absorbed into the Police indirectly through special constables and cluster policing recruitments.
