The voices of the jobseekers

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent | Friday January 8, 2010 00:00

Unemployment in this town is also fuelled by the closure of textile firms and retrenchment by the biggest employer in the town, BCL Mine due to the economic meltdown.

Some of the textile firms that have left this town under a dark cloud, leaving hundreds of Batswana unemployed are Sports Line, Tex and Rising Sun.

The closure of the firms has seen many people migrating to other towns to seek greener pastures. There are others, however, who have remained behind.

Mmegi visited the District Labour office this week to talk to the masses that have been frequenting it with the hope of picking a 'yes' from a 'box'.   For the lucky ones, a 'yes' means getting a job and a 'no' means no job.

Tabuya Selotego (28) from Mmadikola village in Boteti area said he has been coming to the office since September last year, but has not been lucky. He explains that he used to work for a sub-contractor at Orapa diamond mine.

'I am a fitter by profession and I have a certificate in borehole mechanics.  While BCL Mine promised to hire us this month because there are people who retired in December, we are yet to hear from the company. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that I will get hired soon,' he said.

Selotego said at the moment he is desperate and is willing to take anything that might come his way. 'The criteria used here is that when you pick a yes from the box, you have got yourself a job and I have never been that lucky. It is a good system because it does not favour anybody,' he said.

Gosego Hiyabo (29) from Nokaneng village in Ngamiland said he has been going to the labour office for the past three years to no avail. 'I thought that finding a job in Selebi-Phikwe would be easy because of the mine, but I have come to realise that it is much tougher. I have been doing piece jobs in my village, so I am now looking for a permanent job this year,' he said looking into the distance.  Hiyabo said he does not hold any qualifications and wants to do any job that can put food on his table.

He explained that he stays with his cousin who is taking care of him, adding that the situation is taking its toll on him and his cousin has started complaining.  Asked why he was not taking advantage of government programmes such as Young Farmers' Fund, Hiyabo said he does not have enough information about them.

He complained that it is difficult for youths to find plots, especially if they want to venture into farming. He also attacked the Department of Youth and Culture for failing to spread information about programmes that are meant to assist the youth.

Another jobseeker, Edwin Bote (35) from Sefophe village said he has been going to the labour office since 2007. He mentioned that he got a piece job as a shop fitter in a company called Alucraft but when it was finished he went back to the labour office where he had to join others, mostly the youth, close to a 100 also looking for jobs.

'I do not have any skills because I did not get far in my schooling. I am hoping to get anything that will come my way. I have registered my name with the labour office and I hope they phone me soon because my situation is tough,' he said.

Bote also complained that there are some people who were registered after him but they got jobs.

Shima Kereemang, 32 from Tlokweng, who said that he registered his name in February 2009, echoed similar sentiments, but said that people who had come the day before had been hired.

Kereemang said he was a plant attendant at BCL Mine but was retrenched. He called upon the government to create jobs for Batswana especially the youth. Kereemang who lives with relatives who work for BCL, said it is hope that pushes him to keep coming to the labour office.

Selebi-Phikwe mayor, Lekang Mukokomani said the council has resolved during a recent meeting to set up an economic diversification committee. He explained that the aim of the committee is to find means and ways of arresting unemployment.

'Unemployment is not something that can be cleared in a day. The big step that we have taken is to set up the economic diversification committee.

I will also convene a meeting with tailor makers who were working for textile firms that have since closed shop. These people have got machines and the knowledge and they were in charge of the factories. These were giant companies,' he said.

Mukokomani said they would also negotiate with Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) to collaborate with these people and set up some firms in Selebi-Phikwe.

He observed that the closed firms had hired many Batswana and the same can still happen. He added that this is one way in which the local authority is working to assist residents who have been affected by unemployment.