23 Feb 2021

Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, Mr Mpho Balopi says the contracts of employment for a specified period or tasks are permissible in labour laws and therefore lawful.

He said Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAAB) has employed 588 people on fixed term contracts in the last 10 years. He explained that 511 of the contracts had ended while 77 were still valid.

Mr Balopi further noted that CAAB had a workforce of 947 employees.

He said out of the number, 870 were permanent and pensionable while 77 were on fixed term contracts. He said the arrangement to engage many employees on short term contracts was engendered by the need to comply with international civil aviation standards and recommended practices pertaining to staffing requirements in international airports.

He highlighted that the average number of years for each worker on fixed term contract spent at CABB in the last 10 years was five years and four months.

Member of Parliament for Maun East, Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile had requested the minister to brief Parliament on measures in place to curb exploitation of workers in the private sector and parastatals through avoiding permanent and pensionable employment by engaging workers through multi short contracts for a permanent work.

Mr Kekgonegile also asked the minister to state the number of contract workers engaged by Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAAB) for the past 10 years, the average number of years each contract worker spent at CAAB, and if he was amenable to bringing a bill to correct the anomaly of contract duration and conditions in workplaces. ENDS