11 Jan 2024

Tourism workers in Savuti within Chobe National Park have called for a risk allowance clause f in the Employment Act or the tourism industry.

Expressing their views during meetings with Chobe MP, Mr Machana Shamukuni on Tuesday  Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge and Ghoha Hills Savuti Lodge employees said working in the wilderness, being surrounded by wild animals, posed a risk on their lives.

Belmond Safaris chief environmentalist, Mr Isaac Seredile said some industries provided risk allowance guided by the nature of their work environment as a way of compensating workers for conditions they worked under.

However, he said the tourism industry was lagging behind in that regard, hence appealed to government to step in and revise laws and compel every hospitality establishment in high risk areas to pay risk allowance.

He complained that Batswana were overlooked in the appointments for management positions with preference given to non-citizens.

Mr Seredile said in some instances, a non-citizen was employed in a senior position with claims that no Motswana was qualified or experienced in that field, adding that same non-citizen would be trained by the same Batswana who were deemed unqualified.

He called on the Department of Labour to be vigilant when issuing work permits by ensuring one had credentials for the job and also to conduct inspections to monitor the performance of  such individuals.

He said there was great potential for Batswana to become entrepreneurs in tourism but there were many barriers such as lack of funding.

In response, Mr Shamukuni said risk allowance was a key issue, which could be solved by legislators. He said Parliament was in the process of consolidating  conditions and laws of employment to close gaps that exposed Batswana to exploitation and abuse.

“Risk allowance is a critical issue that needs our attention as legislators because it has been discussed in Parliament before but never finalised.”

He said some Batswana working in tourism facilities were enablers of the inequalities in the system as they attested to the Labour offices that no Motswana was qualified for a certain position hence needed to learn from a non-citizen as an understudy. Mr Shamukuni explained that Botswana had made strides in terms of citizens being at the helm of managing lodges and safari camps compared to the past when many camps especially in the Okavango Delta were managed by non-citizens.

He promised to engage with BTO and CEDA to facilitate capacity building workshops and business opportunities available for Batswana working in the Chobe National park to explore.

He informed staff that Parliament had approved a 23.5 per cent adjustment of minimum wage across all sectors including the hospitality industry.

He implored workers to exercise their right and register to vote in the 2024 General Elections. 

Mr Shamukuni said the MP’s office would liase with camp management to facilitate staff to register at the district of their choice. Ends