Govt Finally Commits To Pay Salaries
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday June 12, 2017 15:42
Yesterday, the director of the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) Ruth Maphorisa circulated a savingram informing all heads of ministries and government institutions that government will pay salary increment effective June 1, 2017. Government is expected to pay the three and four percent salary increment, which are increments for the financial year 2016/17 and 2017/18 to members of BOFEPUSU.
Payment shall be made in accordance with ‘Public Service Management Directive No. 4 of 2017’.
In the savingram, Maphorisa states that this comes after the BOFEPUSU met the conditions, which were set out as orders by the Gaborone High Court on June 1, 2017.
In what could be considered very strange, government had on June 1, 2017 agreed that it would only pay BOFEPUSU members if the federation issued a rebuttal about a statement that was published by a weekly newspaper.
In a consent order delivered by Justice Tshepo Motswagole, BOFEPUSU agreed to issue a statement in a newspaper circulating in Botswana clarifying an article that recently appeared in the media reports.
The report in question was an article, which appeared on the front cover of The Patriot on Sunday carrying a headline “Govt to pay 7% increase to BOFEPUSU members”.
The contents of the article insinuated that government had bowed to pressure and agreed to award the increments during the meeting between BOFEPUSU and the employer representatives.
The protracted battle between the trade unions and government over salary increment has lasted for years with the duo battling out in court. Last year government made a unilateral decision to increase salaries of public servants by three percent disregarding the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC), a decision that the federation challenged at the courts. However, the court ruled that government could increase salaries of public officers who are not members of BOFEPUSU.
Then government again awarded another increase on April 1, 2017 outside the bargaining council. BOFEPUSU went to court seeking interdiction against government’s decision. High Court Judge, Tshepo Motswagole nullified the decision to increase salaries unilaterally, and ordered that those who had been paid the three percent increase awarded effective April 1, 2016 should pay back the money, as it was unlawful. He said that all salary increments for public servants should be as result of negotiations at the bargaining council.
However, government went ahead to make payments for public officers inclusive of the increments in disregard of the Court order.
Meanwhile the fight is not yet over as BOFEPUSU has vowed to seek back payments for their members.