Keolebogile Lebo Diswai
The defining idea of Botswana’s Second Republic is both simple and transformative: a nation cannot grow by leaving its most vulnerable citizens behind. True economic transformation begins at the bottom of the social pyramid. When the poorest, the unemployed, and the historically marginalised are uplifted, the entire economy expands, social cohesion strengthens, and productivity rises.
This is not only a moral argument. It is a deliberate economic strategy.
A Shift from Statistics to People-Centred Development
For many years, development in Botswana was measured largely through macroeconomic indicators such as growth rates, reserves, and infrastructure expansion. While these were important achievements, they did not always translate into real opportunities for those on the margins, unemployed graduates, rural youth, women in informal economies, and communities with limited access to services. The Second Republic is shifting this logic by placing people at the centre of development and designing programmes that connect social inclusion directly to economic productivity.
To the naked, untrained eye, especially from a middle-class perspective, these changes may not always feel tangible or immediate. Structural reforms often move quietly, and their effects are not always visible in shopping malls, boardrooms, or urban neighbourhoods. But to those who have waited years for work, to those who live in villages with limited opportunities, and to graduates who have carried their certificates without employment, these changes will be deeply felt. Development does not always announce itself loudly; sometimes it arrives in the form of a first salary, a skills certificate, or a chance to rebuild one’s life.
Transforming Ikageng into a Pathway to Productivity
One of the clearest examples of this shift is the transformation of the Ikageng Public Works Programme, formerly known as Ipelegeng. Historically, Ipelegeng functioned primarily as a temporary relief mechanism, offering short-term income without long-term skills or economic mobility. Under the new approach, the programme is being repositioned as a pathway into skills, productivity, and entrepreneurship.
Participants are no longer meant to cycle endlessly through low-paying work. Instead, the programme is being linked to skills training, technical and vocational education, and opportunities for formal employment or self-employment. In this model, public works become a stepping stone into the productive economy rather than a holding space for the unemployed.
Linking Education, TVET, and Local Economies
This thinking is also reflected in the alignment of education, TVET, and local development structures. For too long, these systems operated in isolation. Graduates left universities and colleges without clear pathways into employment, while TVET institutions were underutilised or poorly connected to local economic needs. At the same time, local development committees lacked the authority and capacity to drive real economic activity.
The new approach seeks to create strong functional linkages between these sectors, ensuring that education produces skills relevant to local economies, TVET provides practical and marketable training, and local development structures create opportunities where those skills can be applied. In this way, education becomes a direct contributor to economic growth at the community level.
Repositioning VDCs as Engines of Local Development
At the heart of this localized transformation is the reform of Village and Ward Development Committees. The Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs has rolled out the 2026 Amendment Regulations for Village Development Committees (VDCs) and Ward Development Committees (WDCs), aimed at strengthening leadership, improving governance, and empowering communities in decision-making. These reforms are designed to address long-standing structural weaknesses and to reposition VDCs as active drivers of development rather than passive administrative bodies.
Under the revised framework, VDCs are expected to identify local economic priorities, coordinate community-based projects, and link unemployed residents to skills programmes and employment opportunities. They will also play a stronger role in facilitating partnerships between communities, government, and the private sector. In effect, the village is being transformed from a simple administrative unit into a centre of economic planning and activity.
Restoring Dignity to Long-Waiting Graduates
The Second Republic’s development philosophy is also visible in its treatment of unemployed graduates, particularly Social Work graduates who had been left without employment for years. Many of these graduates, some dating back to 2014, were qualified professionals who found themselves trapped in cycles of uncertainty despite the country’s growing social needs. Their education and sacrifices had not translated into meaningful opportunities.
The new administration has taken decisive action to correct this. Under the leadership of Minister Ketlhalefile F.C. Motshegwa and Assistant Minister Ignatius Moswaane, the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs has moved to recruit and appoint these long-waiting graduates. This decision represents more than job creation. It is the restoration of dignity, the correction of a long-standing injustice, and an investment in social services at the community level. For the first time in years, many of these graduates will earn stable incomes, support their families, and contribute meaningfully to their communities.
Inclusion as Sound Economic Policy
The economic logic behind these decisions is clear. When unemployed graduates find work, household incomes rise, consumption increases, local businesses grow, and tax revenues expand. When rural communities gain skills, infrastructure, and opportunities, productivity improves, migration pressures ease, and economic activity spreads beyond urban centres. Inclusion, therefore, is not charity. It is sound economic policy.
The transformation of Ikageng, the alignment of education and TVET, the reform of VDCs, and the employment of long-waiting graduates are not isolated initiatives. They form part of a coherent development vision rooted in the belief that growth must begin with those who have been left behind. By starting with the most vulnerable, linking social programmes to productivity, and empowering local communities as engines of growth, the Second Republic is redefining the meaning of development.
This is a Botswana where progress is measured not only in statistics, but in jobs created, dignity restored, and communities empowered. It is a Botswana where opportunity reaches the village, the unemployed graduate, and the forgotten citizen.
This is the development logic of the Second Republic in action.
