23 Mar 2016

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu has cautioned Batswana against employing illegal immigrants, stating that the practice works against the government’s efforts of combating the problem. 

Mr Batshu highlighted to Parliament on Tuesday that Botswana continued to experience the influx of illegal immigrants, explaining that his ministry with the help of law enforcement agencies was trying to control the problem.

“Intensified operations with other law enforcement agencies are conducted regularly and these have proved to be effective in combating the problem. It is however noted with concern that despite government’s effort to control illegal migration into the country, some Batswana take advantage of them by offering them jobs that otherwise could have been secured by Batswana,” Mr Batshu said.

The minister was presenting the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs’ budget estimates for the 2016/17 financial year requesting P414.1million made up of P380.5 million recurrent estimates and P33.6 million development estimates.

He said P109.4 million under the recurrent budget would go to ministry’s headquarters, while the Department of Immigration and Citizenship would be given P154.6 million. The remaining amount would be shared by the Department of Labour and Social Security, Gender Affairs and Civil and National Registration. 

Mr Batshu further explained that P26.9 million under the development budget would be used for the ministry’s computerisation projects while the remaining amount would be spent on consultancy projects and facilities projects. 

He stated that his ministry had installed border control systems in 20 of the 37 ports of entries around the country, adding that installation was ongoing at a further five ports of entry, while the remaining 12 were planned for automation in the 2016/17 financial year. 

Furthermore, he said the ministry would open an additional border post at Mabolwe in the Bobirwa constituency during the 2016/17 financial year.  

He said about seven million people crossed Botswana border posts last year, which included about three million arrivals and three million departures. 

Regarding trade disputes resolution, he said 11 349 cases were registered throughout the country last year, and that about 5 000 were settled; 2 000 referred to the Industrial Court; 107 progressed for arbitration while 460 were withdrawn.

Contributing to the debate on the budget request, the MP for Mmathethe-Molapowabojang, Dr Alfred Madigele told the minister that there were many people in his constituency who have not registered for Omang.

He said such people, living in villages such as Mmathethe, Metlobo, Kangwe and Goo-Segwagwa, should be assisted to register for Omang. Dr Madigele further decried what he termed poor working conditions for farm workers, urging the minister to intervene.

He also said he suspected that child labour could be practiced in some farms in his constituency and that the issue should be looked at.

The MP for Shashe West, Mr Fidelis Molao said there should be education on citizenship issues, adding that some parents did not understand that when their children had dual nationality, they were forced to renounce the citizenship of another country after turning 21 years to be considered as Batswana.

He also said the issue of child labour may be prevalent on farms in his constituency, urging the ministry to carry out inspections in order to control the problem.

The MP of Gaborone North, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa complained about businesses owned by foreign nationals that deny Batswana employment in favour of hiring foreigners.

He said the government should deny such companies permits to operate in Botswana.

“It is painful to see our youth not working while the government is not protecting them,” he said.

The MP of Bobirwa, Mr Shaw Kgathi thanked the ministry for opening a border post at Mabolwe. He also asked for accommodation to be provided for immigration staff at the Plaatjan Border Post. He also asked for inspections to be carried out on farms in his constituency to guarantee that employers abide by the labour laws. Ends