UK company sues BTO for P7m
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday March 4, 2024 06:00
In April 2017, the Ministry through BTO announced that it was introducing the levy to raise funds for conservation and national tourism development. According to the announcement then, Effective June 2017, all Non-SADC visitors entering Botswana would be required to pay $30 tourism levy at the point of entry.
“The levy is purposed to support the growth of the industry and broaden the tourism base, resultantly improving the lives of the people of Botswana,” BTO said in a statement.
Come August same year, Members of Parliament unanimously rejected the Tourism Amendment Bill through which Khama said he sought to raise money for the cash-strapped BTO.The amendment of the Tourism Act as proposed by Khama was expected to accommodate the collection of the proposed Tourism Levy by BTO.
It was around that time that Jillian Blackbeard, the then BTO executive marketing manager allegedly gave director of All Seasons Shlomo Kariv a call telling him that their contract had been cancelled by government. According to him, he was told they would receive the investment which they had already made for installing 40 kiosks at airports and borders for the collection of the levy.
How it all started
According to Kariv, who was giving evidence before Justice Reuben Lekorwe of Lobatse High Court yesterday, (Thursday) said it all started in 2016 when Blackbeard liked their presentation about a mandatory insurance scheme that would raise money for Botswana. Kariv also said the plan was to make sure every visitor would be covered and this would bring revenue that would be shared by the company and Botswana.
“Gillian appreciated the idea and said she would speak to her superiors about it. She later called after a few weeks and invited me to meet the Minister in Botswana. We discussed with Minister Khama, Blackbeard and the then BTO head of legal counsel and board secretary Zibanani Hubona who later became CEO. The Minister was impressed and he instructed BTO to work with us on the project. He said Blackbeard would head the project and that the contracts would be signed by the BTO representing Botswana,” he said.
Kariv also said they would soon after receive a letter of intent from BTO to get the work started based on a contract they signed. “In total, we signed three contracts: The first one was for the Insurance scheme; the second was for collection of tourism levy while the third was a detailed service level agreement on what exactly was to be done,” he said. Kariv said the first contract was signed in October 2016 while the last was signed in March 2016.
He told court that they went ahead procured kiosks and related software. He said they initially installed 20 kiosks around borders and airports. They would later deliver 20 more and all machines were ready to start collecting the levy.
The cancellation
According to Kariv, some time in August 2017, they heard that things had changed in Government and that they were to cancel the contract. “Blackbeard told me she could not speak much then and proposed to come to London to explain. She did come along with Hubona and they told me that they were instructed to cancel the contract. They told me that as per the contract, we would be paid for what we invested in case of a cancellation. They however said they could not promise if we could get payment for damages,” he said.
Kariv further told court that while he would never hear from Blackbeard again as he would learn that she and Hubona were fired from BTO a few weeks later. He said they would then send their invoice to BTO after receiving the cancellation letter for payment but nothing ever came forth hence the lawsuit.
He said they were also instructed to remove the 40 kiosks which were set to begin working in August 2017 and later September 2017 pending legislators decision on the bill presented by Khama to Parliament to pave way for the levy.
The claim
Kariv said that their P7 Million claim is for expenses paid by the company in in ordering and buying 40 kiosks; shipping by air all 40 kiosks to Johannesburg and transporting them by road to Gaborone; software and software installation in 40 kiosks; all the IT works; physical installation of 40 kiosks; connectivity and electricity costs paid; and interest on the money.
All Seasons was represented by attorney Sipho Ziga while Sifelani Thapelo represented the BTO. In his cross examination, Thapelo suggested that the company’s claims were to be made against the Ministry as it is the custodian of the contract. He further argued that the claims were not justified as there was no sufficient proof of work done and the amounts demanded. BTO would not put their witnesses to the stand opting for written submissions. The parties meet again on May 29 for final oral submission before a ruling can be made.