13 Mar 2013

Parliament has been informed that the total number of cases registered at the Francistown Industrial Court since inception in 2004 is 3 360.

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu told Parliament on March 11 that to date, 795 cases had been completed and that the number of pending cases was 2 565.

He said the Industrial Court was concerned about the high number of pending cases and had since September 2012, implemented a backlog eradication strategy which entailed increasing the number of cases enrolled per day before each judge.

The minister said the strategy entailed the implementation of active case management by judges and pre-trial conferences on entitlement cases to explore opportunities for out of court settlements.

Mr Batshu said the strategy also involves increasing the viability of industrial court services to catchment areas in order to update client information.

The MP for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi had asked the minister to state the number of cases reported at the Francistown Industrial Court since inception and those that had been disposed to date and those outstanding. ENDS