Gov�t applied tricks to kill PSBC
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday November 21, 2017 17:18
Furthermore, the acting commissioner of labour, Goitseone Kokorwe rejected BOFEPUSU’s plea to respond in 30 days instead and went ahead to deregister the PSBC. This has irked the Federation who are now considering legal action.
On November 1, 2017 Kokorwe wrote to BOFEPUSU asking them to make representations in respect of an application made by the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) for the cancellation of the registration of the PSBC.
BOFEPUSU was not impressed with the seven days they were given to respond, stating that the time given was inadequate.
“We are fully alive to the fact that the application by the DPSM was made more than two months ago. We are further aware of the fact that your office sought legal advice from the Attorney General (AG), who coincidentally is also the legal advisor of the DPSM, as well as legal form in-house counsel at the Department of Labour. We have also been reliably advised that there have been meetings held between the Commissioner of Labour and the DPSM to discuss the issue,” BOFEPUSU’s Johnson Motshwarakgole wrote in a response to the DPSM.
BOFEPUSU argued that in order for them to make a meaningful representation in respect of the application that has been made by the DPSM, they must at the very least be given a copy of the application that the DPSM has made so that they could form their own view and their understanding of the application before responding to same.
“It may also be necessary for us to seek legal opinion in respect of the provisions of the PSBC constitution that you refer to in your letter, as well as on whether the application that has been made is meritorious,” read the letter.
The federation requested that they be given at least 30 days in order to be able to properly address the DPSM’s application, possibly seek legal opinion on the application, prepare response to the application, possibly have a meeting with Commissioner of Labour and make oral representations just as the DPSM did. “We would also wish to consider the judgement of the Court of Appeal in respect of the scope and the functions of the PSBC prior to finalising any representations that we will be making,” Motshwarakgole wrote, requesting an urgent response.
In acceding to the request to have the PSBC cancelled, Kokorwe stated that they received the application on July 26, 2017 and had correspondences as well as meetings with the DPSM since then. Kokorwe stated that the DPSM’s case to have the PSBC cancelled presents sufficient and reasonable cause for cancellation of registration of the PSBC.
The main reasons for the application by the DPSM were termination of the BOFEPUSU as the admitted trade union party in May and that after the termination of BOFEPUSU membership, the constitution of the PSBC made it impossible for the admission of a trade union party.
In an interview, the BOFEPUSU secretary general, Tobokani Rari said they were not impressed that instead of getting a response to be given 30 days, they got a pronouncement that the PSBC was no more.
“They cannot just tackle this matter casually. We deserved to see the letter from DPSM in full. The Commissioner should have called all the parties to the table and talk about the matter. We are awaiting legal advice on how to proceed with the matter,” he said.