Corruption blocks salary increments - Motshegwa

Onalenna Kelebeile | Monday March 26, 2018 12:40

 

Speaking recently during the National Competition Conference in Selebi-Phikwe Motshegwa said the whole scenario confirms that the country has serious leadership crisis as it is led by people who cannot lead themselves.

He added that as the labour movement they are very keen to occupy the socio and economic landscape hence it is appreciable that they are engaged in forums like this one.

'We have been in the past accused of being actively involved in partisan politics as the labour movement but we have always maintained that since decisions coming to us are made by politicians then there is no way politics can be divorced from our mandate,' he said.

Motshegwa who is also the vice president for Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) said fair competition in the job market and doing away with issues of price fixing as the role of the Competition Authority is very crucial.

'Our interest is to ensure that our members’ interests are protected because they suffer when malpractice arise,' he said.

He expressed concern that the job market continues to fail to absorb products of the country’s education system and said the University of Botswana find itself competing with institutions whose interest is revenue collections and profit-making.

He said as a result the country has professionals who cannot deliver. Motshegwa also regretted the decision to enroll 6,000 teacher interns in schools to assist teachers.

'This is not job creation. We need people to be hired through decent work programmes because those interns cannot effectively deliver while they are looking for sustainable jobs. Government and the private sector have a role to play in creating decent job opportunities,' he said.

He added that Ipelegeng, Tirelo Sechaba and internship do not belong to the decent work agenda and added that the high rate of unemployment statistics are sugar coated because government believes that these programmes are jobs.

The workshop also learnt that unemployment is more pronounced among the junior certificate leavers as they have only one route, being to proceed to Cambridge, and very little opportunity in brigades.

This leaves 40 percent of them in streets annually. Senior school leavers also constitute a large proportion of the unemployed.