29 Aug 2018

President Mokgweetsi Masisi and First Lady, Neo Masisi must have walked tall at the recent SADC summit held in Windhoek, Namibia. 

Not only did the first couple become the allure of the summit where President Masisi gave his maiden speech to among others re-affirm Botswana’s steadfast commitment to the regional agenda. 

Surely euphoria and contentment must have filled their hearts to overflow as two Botswana female journos, in Calviniah Kgautlhe of the Department of Information Services and Onalenna Dube of Duma FM swept the stakes in the media awards category.

The duo walked away with the most coveted prizes; SADC Print and Radio Journalists of the year in that order. 

It is also a given, the feat was a clear-cut answer to the regional bloc secretariat’s plea to cajole the fourth estate to play its role in the integration agenda by becoming harbingers of regional issues in particular SADC’S Regional Indicative Strategy Development Plan (RISDP), a blue print for the region’s integration agenda for a 15 year period: 2005-2020.

Under the RISDP, member states have pledged to integrate their markets, cooperate and work closely in areas such as regional infrastructure development, energy, agriculture, trade and industry, tourism, education, health and many others.

Ms Kgautlhe picked a topic on development of regional integration of the transport network system that would shore up connectivity of the regional populace and ensure swift movement of products, services and indeed expedite movement of people.

Her topic delved on the extent to which the development of the Trans Kalahari Corridor, whose networks spans approximately 1900 kilometres across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa would foster economic prosperity and cultural exchange of the three SADC countries.

In dissecting her story, Ms Kgautlhe had zoomed in on what the ordinary man on the street stands to gain should they position themselves to derive benefits that come with the construction of the corridor.

In her modest demeanor, she attributes the reward to team effort by colleagues at the Botswana Press Agency news room, an epicentre for cross fertilisation of ideas. 

She relayed to BOPA that she will forever be indebted to the regional bloc for holding with esteem and recognising the significant role the media plays in promoting regional integration.

In the radio category, Ms Onalenna Dube, who doubles as a news anchor and senior reporter at Duma FM, was laser focused on one of the topical issues of the moment; “Human Trafficking” where she laid bare the horrors associated with the phenomenon.

“Human trafficking is real; it’s happening in schools, everywhere and remains a complex criminal activity that is of great concern to the SADC region and the rest of the world. Southern Africa has seen burgeoning incidents of human trafficking with the majority of victims coming from the East and Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region and the regional bloc itself,” she had observed in a matter she felt strongly needed public sensitisation forthwith. 

On winning the award, the soft spoken woman of the airwaves is ecstatic as it places her on a better pedestal with the best in the region. The fact that she is the first journalist from the private media in Botswana to scoop the award is by no means a small achievement.

Other than providing a platform to inform and educate the masses out there about the harsh realities of human trafficking, Ms Dube is confident her participation during this year’s awards will open more doors for her to showcase her vast talent and be the voice of the downtrodden.

She is happy that women have now crawled out of their comfort zones to become forces to reckon with in the media fraternity.

To put icing on the cake, the Department of Information Services, chief photographer, Mr Yobe Shonga’s winning streak continued albeit occupying second position in the photojournalism category. 

The multi-award winning photojournalist does not need introduction, having churned out the finest pictures for well over two decades.  

His star continues to shine brighter where others have waned, making him an all-time great. Surely, the man with a knack to give mujo to an otherwise lackluster image still has more up his sleeves to offer to the regional bloc.  

His winning piece, the third under his belt, was a pictorial of the 37^th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit in Pretoria, South Africa, which also bid Presidents Khama and Dos Santos farewell. ENDS