19 Mar 2020

Members of Parliament have expressed concern over the backlog of cases at the Industrial Court.

Debating the court’s budget proposals for 2020/21 financial year in Parliament, MPs said delays had resulted with a number of disgruntled employees failing to follow up on their cases.

Kgalagadi South legislator, Mr Sam Brooks said the high number of cases at the Industrial Court showed that Batswana had lost trust in the Department of Labour and Social Security.

Contributing to the debate, Member of Parliament for Maun East, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile called upon the Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, Mr Mpho Balopi to benchmark in South Africa, where he said there were good labour relations.

He further said there should be a specialised Court of Appeal to deal with labour issues.

Gaborone Bonnington North MP, Ms Anna Mokgethi said employers should be trained on labour laws as most of the time conflict arose from ignorance. She noted that many employers did not know how to conduct fair disciplinary hearings.

Ms Mokgethi said it was disheartening that cases took two years to be resolved, saying some employers took advantage of the situation.

MP Motsamai Motsamai of Ghanzi South said funds allocated to the court should be increased to enable it to deal with backlog. Molepolole South legislator, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said the Industrial Court should be provided with enough resources, adding it should be available in all parts of the country.

He said an enabling environment for business could only be achieved if there were harmonious relationships between employers and employees. MP Morwaeng said government must speak against racism seen in some business establishments, where the derogatory term kaffir had been used against Batswana.

For his part, MP for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi said the Department of Labour and Social Security should be given additional powers to take action against employers who ignore their invitations.

He further said the court should have its own deputy sheriffs as some employers had ignored judgments.

Gaborone South legislator, Mr Dumezweni Mthimkhulu said the Industrial Court had been established to provide equity and justice, while the High Court was solely the court of law as its role was to protect worker’s rights.

He said something should be done as the Court of Appeal had made it easy for employers to terminate work and offer only a month’s salary, therefore setting a wrong precedent.

MP Yandani Boko of Mahalapye East said, filing of cases should be decentralised as some people did not have means to travel to either Francistown or Gaborone to register their cases.

He further said the appointment of judges should be transparent and be done by Parliament.

Responding to MPs comments, Minister Balopi said some of the reforms the MPs called for would be undertaken during the review of the Constitution. In some instances, he said, people gave up and cases had to be brought before the judge to be dismissed hence the backlog.

Minister Balopi said they would also look into the idea of establishing a deputy sheriff office.

The minister had earlier requested Parliament to approve P44 023 320 as recurrent budget and P5 500 000 as development budget for 2020/21 financial year.

He said part of the funds would be spent on completion of Selibe Phikwe semi-permanent court. Ends