18 May 2014

Director for the Directorate of Public Service Management, Mr Carter Morupisi says government continues to manage the wage bill as one of the strategies adopted to counter effects of the economic crisis.

Speaking to journalists in Gaborone on May 15, Mr Morupisi said while managing the wage bill, government made a big decision not to retrench people from their employment since the 2008 economic downturn.

“This was a big policy decision and has helped families and employees to continue working and alongside there was minimal increase of salaries that has kept them going including the recent four per cent. I want you to understand that while tightening the belt we did not want to increase unemployment,” he said.

He said as it stood, of the P40 billion annual budget for the country, about P14 billion was reserved for salary payments and other benefits for public service employees while the rest was used for social benefits and development in Botswana to benefit citizens.

He said government made a decision to reduce the wage bill to a manageable level and that the agreed reduction was five per cent every year for the next three years.

He said measures introduced to curb the growth included minimal increases to public service salaries, maximising on the use of existing vacancies through the vacancy rationalisation exercise to create critical needy positions required in government as well as the moratorium on the growth of the public service.

Mr Morupisi said management of overtime also reduced from P100 million to P60 million for the 2013/14 financial year. He further briefed the meeting that the introduction of Personal Management Information System had managed to trace ghost employees and that about 50 people were since recorded and dealt with accordingly.

Mr Morupisi also briefed the media that government valued the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC) as a platform for engagement with employee representatives because government recognises the value of human resource.
He said the negotiations for the financial year 2014/15 commenced on May 14 and were on-going.

Mr Morupisi said as much as the relationship between government and unions has been characterised by hostility and non-cooperation, especially in the media, it must be taken into cognizance that as a new body, the PSBC will have teething problems.

“We are optimistic that this is something we shall overcome to create a harmonious working environment for every public service employee, characterised by due regard and respect for all,” he said.

Mr Morupisi noted that government was deploying interventions geared towards addressing poor work ethic as recently he toured the country to hear from employees key issues that were affecting their welfare.

He said a task team encompassing all stakeholders will work on a comprehensive national strategy on work ethic to address public and private sector. 
He said formal training on smart work ethics by Botswana National Productivity Centre has trained public officers to cascade lessons across the whole government. ENDS