16 Dec 2015

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu, has implored members of the Regional Immigration Selection Board (RISB) to make timely decisions.

Speaking during the RISB workshop in Mahalapye recently, Mr Batshu said whether the board granted or rejected the permit, applicants must be informed of the outcome within a reasonable time.

He urged individual board members to introspect on the issue and move towards improving performance.

Minister Batshu cited as the ministry’s major concern, the turnaround time for processing permits, adding that records showed that performance rate in that regard for the period between April and September 2015 was 43.35 per cent. This, he added, clearly showed that most of the applicants were informed of the outcome outside the set time. 

Mr Batshu said the ministry had taken a deliberate step to mitigate this challenge, adding that under the Economic Stimulus Programme, the ministry would be funded to automate all systems.

However, he expressed satisfaction with the performance of the boards, adding that during April to September 2015, the approval rate for work and residents permits by the boards stood at 78.6 per cent.

He noted that his ministry still received complaints from investors, employers, workers as well as the general public concerning delays in processing permits and the high rate of rejection of applications for permits.

Mr Batshu said they had been accused of discouraging investment, denying employers the required skills needed to carry out their businesses and allowing non-citizens to take jobs reserved for Batswana.

The minister noted that in making decisions, they should be guided by the economic realities and imperatives confronting them.

Government, he said, had an obligation to ensure that investment created jobs for Batswana.

Mr Batshu said only when no suitable skills were available locally that consideration should be given to non-citizens.  

Furthermore, he said it was important that they should not unduly deny employers the skills that they required to operate their businesses.

He said the private sector was monitoring their progress with curiosity and government had emphasised that the private sector was a key partner in the economic development.

He noted that the private sector had committed to playing its role well and they consistently assured the private sector that the turnaround time for processing permits would be reduced. 

Mr Batshu said this would ensure that the effort by the private sector to drive the economy was not thwarted. 

He however reminded the boards that they could not do their work effectively if they did not support government’s effort to improve turnaround times of doing business and facilitate economic diversification.

He said progress was already visible in the realisation of the government’s objective of diversification in the diamond sector, and currently the newly introduce Economic Stimulus Programme requires all to play a role.

Mr Batshu said the implementation of the ESP was going to require a lot of skills; consequently its success would depend on their ability to facilitate the importation of skills required by these businesses. Ends