17 Sep 2020

 North West District councillors have requested for establishment of a fully-fledged Industrial Court in Maun. 

They complained about delays in hearing labour cases noting that currently, Maun branch only registered cases which are later referred to Francistown or Gaborone.

At times, they said the cases were attended by judges from Gaborone.

The councillors were responding to a presentation by Industrial Court officials recently.

The presentation aimed to outline the court’s roadmap and commitment to improve service delivery as well as to make leaders understand the jurisdictional status of the court.

The councillors said establishing a fully-fledged court would save government costs incurred during the process and also reduced backlog and time taken. Some cases, they said had been registered for years without solution.

Councillors also wanted to understand the relationship between Industrial Court and labour office as most of the time, concerned workers report their grievances to labour office.

Cllr Bareetsi Bogaisang appreciated that the court maintained peace and good industrial relations  while Cllr Kaukapita Kaukapita asked who was supposed to enforce a court order if a person fails to comply with it.

He stated that there was a certain company which was ordered to pay its employees ten years ago and to date nothing happened.

In response, Principal Clerk, Mr Mothusi Selo informed them that a fully-fledged court was in the pipeline.

Although, he could not reveal when it would be fully operational, he requested councillors to be patient.

He appreciated that the Maun branch was not fully operational as it registered cases only, which he  acknowledged could contribute to the delay as cases were attended by judges from Gaborone.

Regarding the issue of enforcing the court order, Mr Selo explained there were options that  could be used.

In the first option, he said the concerned party could apply for civil contempt action which seeks to compel compliance with court other before punishment occurs.

Another option he said a person could apply for a writ of execution and engage a sheriff.

 He stressed the need for all to understand the court processes and appealed to political leaders to empower their constituents to appreciate employment laws.

Mr Selo said they should encourage them to contact the Commissioner of Labour, Industrial Court, Legal Aid Clinic for clarity on the law.

Leaders were also requested to empower enterprises to adhere to best practices especially ones which partnered with the council.

The councillors learnt that the mission of the Industrial Court was to promote the rule of law by providing effective and efficient labour justice in an accessible manner to achieve a robust and relevant system of labour dispute resolution.

Mr Selo explained that the court applied law and equity in the settlement of trade disputes.

He also explained timely delivery of justice, stating that generally all trades disputes registered with the court must have gone through mediation process at the District Labour Office (DLO).

A party, he said must have a letter of referral from the DLO and a certificate of failure to settle.

Sharing about case disposal for this financial year, he stated that a total of 175 cases were registered in the northern region as at the August 31.

An additional 311, he said were brought forward from March 2020 and 156 cases were completed as at August 31 while 315 were pending. ENDS