End Of SoE May Spell Beginning Of Sleepless Nights

The Monitor Editor | Tuesday September 7, 2021 06:00

While the announcement by President Mokgweetsi Masisi during the National Address on COVID-19 on Friday clearly stated that the nation will be exiting the SoE, at the end of September 2021, it has been great and welcome news.

However, many companies have suffered losses and have been eagerly waiting for SoE to end to allow things to go back to normal so that they can begin the retrenchment process to shed the weight felt from the effects of the pandemic.

The address did not mention anything about what plans the government has in place to mitigate the gloom that is possibly facing workers post-SoE. Labour unions are already warning about the possibility of catastrophic job losses and urge the government to immediately come up with a strong and sound economic recovery plan, which will guard against massive job losses.

BOFEPUSU secretary-general, Tobokani Rari is quoted in this publication saying: “If the government does not act (by implementing measures to prevent job losses) a lot of companies will eject workers into the street immediately after SoE. The country cannot afford to experience massive job losses. That would be very catastrophic because the unemployment rate in the country is already high”.

Experts have estimated the unemployment rate to be at around 24%, meaning that should many companies decide to release workers to the streets, the rate will increase drastically, and that will not be good for the country.

Many people have already lost jobs. Like many companies waiting for the end of the SoE, some have found other strategies such as asking employees to work two weeks in a month and earn half salaries or asking them to just stay at home and wait to be called to work.

The future is not looking bright! Yes, it is visible that some industries have suffered huge losses, and have to come up with strategies to keep their companies afloat, but most of these strategies will have drastic consequences for the country.

Unions had previously argued that the extension of SoE, was merely a postponement of a challenge that is not going anywhere. One of the reasons advanced by the government when extending the SoE was to prevent massive job losses. Now it seems like the chickens have come home to roost, and many citizens will start to feel the pinch.

While coming up with strategies and plans to mitigate possible job losses, the government should also look into unscrupulous employers who will want to take advantage of the situation to mistreat employees and deny them their employment and labour rights, hiding behind the effects of COVID-19. Let’s all come together and rebuild our Botswana!