Public servants in trouble
Innocent Selatlhwa | Sunday May 15, 2022 19:58
Preliminary results of Botswana’s Workforce study states that 70% of public servants “are sitting on top of another with less to do”.
Botswana through the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) is developing a Workforce Planning System with the Botswana Public Service Workforce Strategy and Workforce Plans Project that started in July 2021.
Delivering her maiden budget speech in February, 2022 Finance Minister Peggy Serame said the key objectives of the project are to manage the government wage bill, promote workforce flexibility and improve productivity in the public sector.
“It will help to identify where public sector employment can be restructured, and hence identify possible savings in the wage and salary bill. This will directly address the problem of the ever-growing wage bill, which was estimated at over 16% of GDP in 2020/2021, compared to the acceptable 10% recorded by comparator nations,” Serame said.
The latest findings were shared by acting DPSM director, Dr Omponye Kereteletswe when appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this week.
He said as an upper middle-income economy, the wage bill is something that needs to be monitored closely. “I can safely say that studies have been ongoing but due to COVID-19, some of the abrupt decisions were upheld in implementing those reforms.”
“There is a study that has started on workforce planning that actually shows a lot of wastage within the public service that we hope to conclude by the end of the current financial year. I must say we must be holistic in approach. I must admit we dropped the ball in some cases and that would not be healthy for this economy and as such we are focused. We are aware of the percentage of the wastage within the public service. Preliminary results of the study shows that 70% of staff are under- utilised, 23% utilised and 7% are over utilised. These are just preliminary results as the study is not yet complete. We are currently procuring a consultant to assist complete the study (sic),” he said.
Quizzed to explain further by PAC chairperson, Dithapelo Keorapetse, Kereteletswe said utilisation means whether public servants are appropriately placed and whether they do an adequate job they are supposed to do.
Under utilisation, he said means “you have more numbers, you have people sitting on top of each other and doing less than they are supposed to do. Therefore, through an evidence-based approach, to right size, we had to do it from an informed position, hence we had to do this study”.
Kereteletswe also said as an upper income economy, Botswana needs to make sure that government staffing level is around 10% of the GDP.
“There are some certain things that must happen and we need a holistic approach otherwise we will hurt the economy. And by that I mean, the private sector must be seen to be growing because in essence the private sector must be the main employer as opposed to government. This workforce planning study therefore is intended to inform us so that we are able to do the needful in terms of putting things right over time and of course the idea we can’t boil an ocean over a year, it has to happen in three or four years,” he said.
Additionally, he said other components that will go with the workforce planning to yield results include the recent rationalisation of ministries.
“That is just moving the big blocks, but now we are going inside to make sure we look for that excess fat. And then, also there is Performance Management and Development where now we want to refocus on what was called performance based reward system that we had. This has been done and is being reinforced. (We) Will be adding other components,” he said. Responding to the acting director’s PAC comments, Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) deputy secretary general, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said: “First and foremost we don’t know what study the acting director is talking about, in fact if there is any of some study it will be a hog wash one. What we know is that Botswana has fallen trap to the misguided advise and recommendations of the neo liberal Bretton woods institutions of World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which trap third world Countries with conditional loans that compel them to engage in structural adjustments such as cutting down of the civil service, something that serves to weaken these countries economically and socially. “
The position of BOFEPUSU is that government must be at the forefront of employment creation as there is no vibrant private sector to absorb people into massive employment.
Motshegwa is aware that this kind of talk is meant to prepare for cutting down of the civil service, which will result in Batswana being thrown into abject poverty at a time of economic hardships.
“What we know is that there is serious shortage of staff in the public service, which has resulted in some employees working extended long working hours, some doing duties of two or three posts at the same due to many vacancies,” he noted.