Clocking System In the Public Sector Welcome

| Monday June 10, 2013 00:00

The public service is the largest single employer in Botswana and therefore any attempt at improving service delivery through punctuality is welcome. Under normal circumstances, this initiative should not be causing any uproar as it is reported to have disturbed the teachers.

He hope that for the teachers the new clocking system also recognises that they do not work like other public service workers, and therefore the noble initiative will not create problems for teachers who start work at 720am, or 8am. Of course some teachers start their day at the office around midday, for those classes that start late and end late in the afternoon.This however should not cause the noble initiative to die a natural death. Parents are concerned about declining performances in schools and hopefully if the teachers are also fairly subjected to the clocking system like the rest of the public service, our students will start performing better. We urge those who are debating the introduction of the clocking system to do so with open minds, and not with the intention of dismissing the system outright.

Government Should Handle the Basarwa Matter With Care

We have been following government's rebuttals and denials of the forced relocation of Basarwa and Bakgalagadi people of Ranyane with interest over the last week. We are concerned that government seems to be bent on relocating the residents of Ranyane despite a court interdict barring them from doing so. We encourage our Government to respect court orders as they are expected to do so in a functioning democracy. Our government has been ordered to stop the relocations, and they must do so until they have also approached the courts for alternative relief. The issue of Ranyane residents is a painful one. It has been bubbling underneath the surface for many years. And in the last two years efforts to forcibly evict the people have ben well publicised. 

We are tempted to believe the Basarwa council's version of the story that government authorities have now set camp in Ranyane trying to entice people to relocate to Bere to pave way for wildlife, while Ranyane settlement is surrounded by private farms that remain untouched, as if there is one law for Basarwa and Bakgalagadi and another law for the rich.