21 Mar 2017

Parliament has approved the Industrial Court budget proposal of P43.04 million for recurrent expenditure and P8.46 million for development estimates for the 2017/18 financial year.

Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development, Mr Nonofo Molefhi proposed the budget on behalf of the Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo on March 20.

Mr Molefhi told Parliament that 5 239 cases were pending before the courts by December 2016, explaining that 1 957 of the cases were registered in 2016 alone while 3 279 were brought forward from previous years.

He said 346 of the cases brought forward were considered backlog as they were more than 24 months old, adding that 12 cases were pending from 2004 to 2009.

The minister said initiatives had been put in place to improve systems for timely delivery of justice at the Industrial Court.

“In an effort to reduce or eliminate delays in conclusion of cases by the courts, several initiatives have been introduced. These include Case Management Reforms and review of the rules of court which were completed in 2016/17. The court rules were provided in Braille as I trust this will go a long way in reducing the margin of inconvenience often experienced by the category of clients with compromised sight,” he explained.

He said more initiatives were planned in the 2017/18 financial year to address critical issues for case disposal in the areas of execution of court orders and Case Records Management Systems (CRMS).

“CRMS will be expected to positively impact on management and disposal of case records,” Mr Molefhi said.

Furthermore, the minister told the House that there were two divisions of Industrial Court, in Gaborone and Francistown with a total of nine judges.

He further said the court operates circuit courts in Maun, Palapye, Selebi Phikwe, Kanye, Ghanzi, Letlhakane and Kasane to enhance its visibility and services.

“The court has plans to expand to Maun and Selebi Phikwe. The Selebi Phikwe structures will be refurbished in the 2017/18 financial year. In Maun, the court rents premises, and full occupation is expected to be completed in the 2017/18 financial year,” he said.

He further said in June 2017 the court would commence the use of short message system (SMS) to communicate with clients to keep clients informed on outstanding documents to be filed, dates of hearings, judgement dates and dates for collection of payments.

Debating the budget proposals, Boteti West Member of Parliament, Mr Slumber Tsogwane complained that the big backlog of cases before the Industrial Court disadvantages the affected employees.

He called for measures to be put in place to dispose off them quickly.

He also proposed for a subsistence allowance to be paid to suspended or dismissed employees whose cases were still before the Industrial Court until their cases were concluded.

Gabane-Mmankgodi MP, Major General Pius Mokgware said the slowness in dealing with cases by the Industrial Court has invariably denied justice to a lot of employees.

He said people were losing hope in the Industrial Court and urged the minister to investigate why cases take long to be dispensed.

He also called for more transparency in the appointment of Industrial Court judges, saying the process should be guided by an act.

MP for Nata- Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga asked the ministry to establish more courts around the country to increase access to justice by aggrieved employees.

MP Dithapelo Keorapetse of Selebi Phikwe West said acting judges should be engaged to deal with the backlog of cases before the Industrial Court. ENDS