08 Dec 2015

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs says there are measures in place to ensure that media houses strictly adhere to fair labour practices in the form of routine inspections, spot checks and public education through exhibitions and media interaction.

Mr Edwin Batshu said his ministry conducts specific labour inspections once a quarter in each year, and that during the 2015/16 financial year inspections were conducted in the agriculture sector, retail sector and tourism sector with labour inspections in the mining sector planned for the fourth quarter which is January 2016.

He said there were 12 foreigners employed by local media houses, out of which seven are at Dikgang Publishing, one at The Patriot, one at the Botswana Gazette, one at Sunday Standard and two at Weekend Post. Mr Batshu said all vacancies were advertised and that advertisement is a prerequisite for all work permit applications.

He further said issuance of work and residence permits to non-citizens was dependent upon proof by prospective employers that attempts were made to get locals, and that these attempts included advertising vacancies in the media and checking availability of suitable skills locally through the labour office. He added that a point based system was at the end used to assess the legibility of applicants.

The MP for Ghanzi North, Mr Noah Salakae had asked the minister whether there were measures in place to ensure that media houses strictly adhere to fair labour practices with respect to the working conditions of journalists; how often labour inspectors visit media houses for this purpose; how many foreigners were employed by local media houses; whether vacancies were advertised when foreigners were recruited and what measures his ministry undertakes to ensure that foreigners were not recruited when the same skills were available locally. Ends