BFA faces P500,000 lawsuit
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday October 14, 2023 06:00
According to court documents seen by MmegiSport, the four (names withheld) are demanding reinstatement or a payment equivalent to a year's salary. The first applicant has claimed P70,584, the second P271,788.24, the third wants P76,404, and the fourth is demanding P180,000.
The total claim is P598,776.24. In their final submissions before Justice Harold Ruhukya, the applicants argued that they were unlawfully dismissed from their employment with the BFA.
“The applicants’ employment was terminated by the BFA following an organisational restructuring exercise which the BFA maintains was lawfully conducted. The positions occupied by the applicants were all found to be redundant, hence their dismissal. All four applicants seek reinstatement. Alternatively, they seek compensation,” the document reads.
The matter was initially scheduled for trial over two days on June 5 and 6, 2023. The trial did not proceed as scheduled owing to the failure of the BFA to timeously deliver documents to the applicants, which had been requested by way of subpoena.
“The documents were delivered on the date of the hearing. A postponement was granted to allow the applicants’ counsel an opportunity to consider the documents. The applicants issued a subpoena against BFA CEO, Mfolo Mfolo. He was to be called as a witness by both parties, he was present and sitting in court when the postponement was granted,” the court documents read.
The matter was then scheduled for hearing on August 16 and 17, 2023. On the first day of the hearing, the applicants appeared and were ready to proceed. The association's lawyer advised the court that BFA’s sole witness, Mfolo was out of the country attending to official BFA business. “At the close of the applicants' case, the BFA counsel moved the court for a postponement of the trial.
This was opposed and the court ordered that the trial continue. In the circumstances, the BFA was constrained to open and close the case without calling a witness,” the document reads. Responding to the applicants’ argument, the BFA submitted that they lawfully conducted the retrenchment exercise in accordance with the Employment Act.
“In particular, whether the applicants were compared against other employees and dismissed in accordance with the first in, last out principle,” the document reads. The BFA argued that the position of personal assistant to the CEO does not exist in the new organisational structure. Further neither one of the two applicants could have filled the position.
“That the applicants were engaged before them being retrenched and the applicants were retrenched for the reasons stated by the BFA, or because they had been specifically targeted for dismissal by the BFA for alternative reasons.” The court was informed that the BFA conducted a restructuring exercise with the advice of the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC). According to the court document, on or around January 31, 2018, the BFA issued letters to each of its employees, including the applicants, advising of the possibility of retrenchment, and explaining the need for the exercise as advised by BNSC.
“On or around May 24, 2021, the applicants were issued with letters by the BFA advising that the BFA was unable to allocate any work to them, and as such they would each be released from the workplace and paid only 50% of their respective salaries,” the court papers read. The judgment has been reserved and a date is yet to be set. Jeremy Lawrence of Lawrence and Associates represents the applicants while Joseph Akoonyatse of Akoonyatse Law Firm is the BFA lawyer.