Gov’t rules out new jobs in public service
Pini Bothoko | Monday July 20, 2026 06:00
Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) Director, Gaone Machola, has revealed that government has frozen new posts and will instead redeploy employees from overstaffed ministries to those experiencing shortages. 'We currently do not have the financial capacity to create new vacancies,” she said when appearing before the 62nd PAC hearing. “Where we identify ministries with excess staff, we will transfer those employees to ministries that are understaffed instead of creating new positions,” Machola told the committee. Her remarks disappointed PAC members, who argued that government should be creating employment opportunities for thousands of unemployed graduates rather than maintaining a recruitment freeze. However, Machola explained that Botswana's slowing economic growth has significantly constrained government's ability to expand the public service. She said while the country previously absorbed almost every graduate from the University of Botswana (UB), the situation has changed dramatically.
'In the past, the UB produced about 3,000 graduates annually and government was still expanding by building schools, hospitals and other public institutions, making it easier to absorb graduates. “Today, more than 8,000 students graduate from tertiary institutions every year, while government has matured and the economy is no longer creating jobs at the same pace,' the DPSM boss stated. She told the committee that government introduced a graduate absorption policy to ensure that 80% of entry-level vacancies were reserved for newly qualified graduates, although implementation has so far reached about 70% because of limited opportunities. Machola attributed the shrinking employment opportunities to a decade-long moratorium on the creation of new posts, introduced after economic growth slowed and government sought to contain the public sector wage bill. Botswana's wage bill continues to be under pressure as economic growth has weakened, making it difficult for government to employ more people while maintaining fiscal sustainability.
Despite the recruitment freeze, Machola said government has embarked on an ambitious insourcing programme aimed at improving the welfare of workers previously engaged through outsourced contracts. Under this scheme, government has already permanently employed 4,909 workers in cleaning, gardening and night watchmen. 'Some departments had not outsourced these services but had employed people on temporary contracts. Those are the employees we are now absorbing into permanent positions,' Machola said. She added that workers employed on short-term contracts close to retirement would also benefit from permanent employment to enable them to access retirement benefits. For employees currently working under outsourced companies, Machola said government will wait for existing contracts to expire before advertising the positions. 'Once the contracts come to an end, those positions will be advertised and recruitment will be conducted according to government standards.
At the end of this phase, we expect to have employed more than 10,000 people,' she noted. However, she cautioned that the exercise would take time as ministries must first prepare for the transition. Machola also outlined to the committee on the progress made under DPSM's strategic reforms over the past year. She said the department has completed the restructuring of almost all government ministries after conducting extensive consultations with ministries and public sector unions. Only staff placement in a few ministries remains outstanding. 'We worked closely with ministries and labour unions to develop structures that are suitable for each institution. It was an extensive process, but we have largely completed it,' she revealed. Another major achievement, she said, has been reducing the time retirees wait to receive their pension benefits. Previously, pensioners waited for up to two years before accessing their retirement benefits, despite the official turnaround target of 90 days.
'We have now reduced that period to approximately 35 days. It was painful to see retirees waiting for years without any source of income,' she said. According to her, government has improved housing allowances for lower-paid public servants through negotiations with trade unions, enabling employees in the lowest salary grades to take home at least P4,000. Looking ahead, the hearing was told that DPSM's priorities for the current financial year include implementing the Public Service Bargaining Council, continuing digital transformation, finalising human resource policies, improving productivity and rolling out a Leadership Transformation Programme. Hence, Machola said government was replacing the email-based payslip system with an online employee portal that will gradually provide additional human resource services. DPSM has also introduced a productivity awareness campaign, including a drama series developed in partnership with the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund to promote improved work performance across the public service. The Leadership Transformation Programme, she said, is designed to address an impending leadership gap, with nearly half of senior government executives expected to retire within the next three to five years. 'The programme will mentor and prepare future leaders while encouraging experienced executives to transfer skills before they retire.
' She added that retiring officers would receive entrepreneurial and psychosocial support to help them establish businesses and generate income after leaving the public service. On outstanding employee benefits, Machola admitted government still faces significant financial obligations. She told the committee there are 455 unresolved overtime payment cases across the public service, while government is handling labour-related claims worth approximately P210 million. 'We have advised ministries not to authorise overtime they cannot afford to pay. Some ministries are already making budgetary provisions to settle these obligations, while others are still identifying resources,' the DPSM head added.
She identified the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture as one of the worst affected, with employees involved in Foot and Mouth Disease control still owed subsistence allowances, committed overtime and overtime payments. Meanwhile, PAC members have urged DPSM to consider a special dispensation to ensure affected employees receive their outstanding payments without further delays. Machola also disclosed that government owes healthcare assistants about P800 million in salary adjustments arising from promotion-related errors, stating that the amount would be paid in phases because of financial constraints. The DPSM Director further informed the committee that there were 83 acting appointments at executive level as of May 2026, all of which had been in place for less than 12 months, with recruitment processes already underway to fill many of the positions permanently. “We currently have 469 posts for E2 scale and above and we will give ministries a timeline of 90 days to fill those vacancies,” she apprised the committee.
PAC members were happy that at the move will create job opportunists for lower positions as middle employees move to upper positions and create job spaces. However, despite outlining several reform initiatives, PAC members maintained that the inability to create new public service jobs remains one of government's biggest challenges, particularly as unemployment among young graduates continues to rise. They urged DPSM to accelerate reforms that stimulate employment while ensuring public servants receive the salaries, allowances and overtime payments owed to them.