A few years ago, sign language interpreter Thamsanqa Jantjie caused both laughter and anger at Nelson Mandela’s funeral when, in a bout of schizophrenia, his gestures descended into mockery.
Through Jantjie’s fake translation, he rendered unmistakable the pretense of the entire ceremony, accusing assembled dignitaries of shedding crocodile tears for a man who had destroyed apartheid but not the economic polarity of that old regime. Indirectly, he was speaking to the departed Mandela and saying the dignitaries do not really care about you.
Na├»ve as it might seem, Jantjie’s gesture has much relevance to what is happening in Botswana politics. If he were to interpret Botswana’s current political climate, he would probably convey a similar message to Batswana.
The recent revelations that some MPs are calling for a salary review while they could instead be fighting for reforms in the governance system, simply shows that parliament might actually be making a mockery of Batswana. This flies in the face of logic and everything we thought we knew about who our MPs really represent.
By calling for a review of their own salaries while workers are being denied salary increases, MPs are publicly declaring that they represent themselves first before the needs of the citizenry.
In a strongly worded statement directed at MPs, Member of Parliament (MP) for Gaborone Bonnington South and Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Secretary General, Ndaba Gaolathe said “If Botswana had a well configured political or parliamentary system, this debate would not have occurred in the first place, and if it did, such a system would have realised that members of parliament are ill-positioned to be the ones spearheading the debate.”
His remarks come in the wake of revelations that some MPs are calling for a salary review whilst neglecting issues of national interest. The Gaborone Bonnington MP is of the view that parliamentarians should never be the ones to approve their salaries in any system. He is also quoted as saying “This is why a separate, independent structure and mechanism for determining the remuneration of parliamentary remuneration is necessary.”
At a time when the Botswana’s parliament is gradually degenerating to a state where the house is becoming ungovernable and the levels of decorum and basic civility are on the decline, one MP who preferred anonymity dove into the issue and said, “This issue of salaries shows you exactly what the priorities of parliament are, that is, basically themselves.”
The problem for the parliament is that issues at the heart of Batswana’s despair are largely inside government control. There is a gap between government intent and power and this disconnect goes to the heart of the parliament: they say what we want to hear but they are yet to convince us they can deliver on their fine words.
And was this also not the truth about the whole of the Mandela memorial ceremony? All the crocodile tears of the dignitaries were in all honesty: nonsense. Through Jantjie’s fake translation, he rendered unmistakable the pretense of the entire ceremony, and his message to Mandela was the dignitaries really don’t care about you ÔÇô a message that MPs seem to be portraying to Batswana citizens.
What must be concerning for Batswana is that their MPs, despite all the talk of a positive future, are failing to turn this mood round, and the danger is if this remains entrenched then cynicism and disconnect reign and parliament rings irrelevant.
The existing legal framework should be revisted because it can no longer engender an effective remuneration system. The insufficiency of the law in dealing with the salaries issue, as Gaolathe correctly pointed out, must be reviewed in order for there to be a fair and balanced representation of the people. On this front, Parliament has failed.
Perhaps Gaolathe’s position that “The question should not be, and indeed is not, about salaries, but one of finding effective and sufficient means to facilitate such dutiful reach, for the sake of adequate representation of the people,” should be firmly embedded in all MPs minds.
In politics’ darkest hour yet, when Batswana are crying out for seismic change, many people are beginning to doubt if we have MPs who have what it takes to lead the citizens from the current economic storm to safe shores.
By taking the lead in negotiating their own salaries and debating their pay, our MPs, like the Supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are declaring that they are now a law unto themselves.
This would simply mean an abuse of a privileged position, and this is why a separate, independent structure and mechanism for determining the remuneration of MPs remuneration is necessary.
