28 Nov 2018

Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development has denied knowledge of ill-treatment to employees of Anthill (Pty)Ltd, which is trading as Veggieland. Minister Tshenolo Mabeo said the company hired on fixed term contracts of one and two or more years.

“There are no contracts that were reduced, instead they ended and were not renewed which is lawful.

According to management, the employees were given short-term contracts to motivate them to perform,” said the minister.

He said his ministry had, however, discouraged the company from offering such contracts because the practice was a risk to job security. He said the company’s employees did work long hours, but were not paid overtime.

The minister further said there was confirmation during inspection conducted on November 22 that the company’s floor manager had used vulgar language on other employees.

He said the manager had since resigned, but for different reasons, and that the company had since employed a human resource manager to foster a harmonious working environment. Gaborone North MP, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa had asked the minister to explain what was being done to address ill treatment suffered by Anthill employees.

He had asked the minister to explain why contracts had been reduced, why employees worked long hours without being paid overtime, and why the floor manager continued to use vulgar language on employees.ENDS