Shamukuni calls for labour law review

He said this is because the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the labour relations landscape of the country and the world over. “The pandemic brought about numerous lessons for the world of work and this calls for a shift in the manner in which we execute our mandate.

Despite the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Botswana continues to enjoy harmonious labour relations. From April 2021 to date, 6,467 trade disputes were reported, in addition to 951 trade disputes brought forward from the previous year, bringing the total to 7,418. There has been a decrease in the number of trade disputes reported compared to 7,299 disputes reported in the previous year [2020]. The decrease is attributed to COVID-19 disruptions,” the minister said. He, however, revealed that although a decrease in trade disputes was realised, the statutory turnaround time of 30 days for mediation and arbitration of trade disputes was not achieved as customers could not access services on time.