Gov't re-employs four fired nurses
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Friday February 28, 2020 18:04
Motshegwa was responding to a questionnaire sent by this publication, following a decision taken by President Mokgweetsi Masisi to re-employ fired civil servants including nurses in a brief meeting with civil servants in Lobatse last year prior to the general elections.
Nurses and other employees, who were considered to be essential services workers, were dismissed during the protracted public service protest earlier in 2011.
Motshegwa said following the issuance of the 2019 Presidential directive on re-employment of fired civil servants who were involved in the 2011 public service strike, the ministry received only a few applications from the dismissed nurses.
She revealed that they received only 10 applications from nurses who applied to be re-hired through Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM).
She said out of the 10 nurses who applied to be re-employed six were not hired.
On another note, Motshegwa said that following the 2011 public service strike, 800 nurses out of 898 nurses who were dismissed from the public service were hired back. She added that the re-employment was carried out in different batches at different periods from 2011 to 2012. As stated by MoHW chief public relations officer, the statistic indicates that about 98 nurses were expected to apply to be re-hired by DPSM. Furthermore, looking at the above statistics about 94 dismissed nurses are currently unemployed.
Back in October 2019, President Masisi pleaded with affected fired civil servants to bury their differences with government.
A local newspaper quoted him then saying: “We have all learned our bitter lessons from it, and those who are eligible, we will bring them back. We are going to have this decision confirmed at a special Cabinet so that we reduce it to a directive.”
Masisi disclosed that the decision followed two years of pondering and consulting on the re-employment of fired civil servants issue and felt it was the right thing to do.
He also said: “The way we are going to do it, we are not going to break the budget. We will create some vacancies. Even if it were to happen after the elections, the principles would be the same.”
Efforts to get a comment from the Botswana Nurses Union were futile at press time despite their promises to revert to the publication.