By Teboho Serutla
An informal grouping of young people is appealing to the public for guidance on what steps to take after their efforts to get government to address their concerns were met with silence.
The group collective also complains about the application of certain aspects of Covid-19 regulations across the country, which they feel are inconsistent and harsh, yet government views them as necessary to confront the rapidly contagious corona virus.
They go on to recall that on November 6, 2020, the youth under the #BachaShutDown movement, marched in Maseru to request Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro and his government to address the issue of unemployment which is rampant in the country and affecting mostly the youth.
“The unemployment rate is consistently measured above 30 percent and is a national crisis that feeds two of the country’s other big socio-economic challenges, which are poverty and inequality.
“We are dismayed that the police responded with excessive force to the protest on the grounds that the protest was unlawful, and shot a journalist, arrested a handful of protestors, while some of the young people who participated in the protest are still facing criminal charges.
“Apart from this, from January 22 to March 30, a series of open, formal, hand-delivered letters, press statements were delivered to the government over a wide range of complaints that the government had to respond to or address; the petitions were signed but instead, the government hit us with deafening silence.”
