Police raid Petrologistics
Innocent Selatlhwa | Thursday April 7, 2016 14:58
The purpose of the raid was to ascertain claims that Batswana are being expelled so that South Africans without work permits can be employed. After the raid, four employees whose documents were suspected to be fake, were taken in for further inspection.
The Botswana Transport and Allied Workers Union (BOTRAWU) chairperson, Kgomotso Panye said they have long reported to the police and wrote to the Department of Labour alerting them about the issue. Panye alleged that there were some employees who were employed without work permits in management and new truckers who were brought to replace the 36 who were fired last year.
“They want to get rid of Batswana. They fire and retrench without following the right procedures and then they are replaced with South Africans who do not have work permits. We are happy the police finally acted. The problem is that like they did in the past, the company will hide those without papers when the police raid them,” he said.
Panye expressed displeasure at labour laws, which he said were weak and allowed employers to take advantage of employees. “The fired truckers were replaced by over 30 drivers without permits,” he said. Panye further said the laws should be strict to avoid situations where employers continue giving jobs to foreigners when Batswana are qualified and unemployed. Tlokweng police station commander, Robson Maleka confirmed the raid, adding that they were not acting on any tip off. “It was a routine exercise. We visit organisations from time to time. Four of the work permits that were suspected not to be genuine were taken to the immigration headquarters together with their holders to ascertain if they are authentic,” said Maleka. Contacted for comment, head of investigations and repatriation division of the immigration department, Solomon Sedumedi said the Monday exercise was just a routine exercise they carry out at different companies. He however said they could not release details. “We have however been in the past been called to the same organisation and some employees were charged with violation of work permit laws,” he said.