Following a thoughtful and objective deliberation on the need, significance and implications of extending the ‘ongoing six months State of Public Emergency (SOPE) due to lapse in a few weeks, Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) and the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) hereby jointly submit their position and proposals on the way forward as follows;
• We note the Government’s prompt response to the threat posed by the covid-19 pandemic through instituting a range of measures including among others, the imposition of lockdowns, and border closures, and the shutdown of social and economic activities.
• We further note that this intervention is worth acknowledging and commendable, both for its swiftness and thorough-going effect as it sent out a clear and loud message to the public, authorities and the world about the seriousness with which we regard the danger presented by the disease. It is worth stating that a great deal of awareness was achieved in this one fell swoop albeit the harder way.
• As the two federations, we acknowledge the COVIOD – 19 preventative measures that were instituted by government and probably by equal measure much was learnt by the public about the importance of social distancing and the significance of hygiene as part of preventive regimen.
• We observe however that owmg to the State of Emergency and accompanying social and economic restrictions, the economy became subdued and has been, much to the acknowledgement of experts, badly hit during the SOPE. It is common knowledge that there was complete shutdown of industries including, but not limited to the alcohol industry, sports, entertainment, hotel & hospitality and on occasiOns, the all-important transport industry as well as centres of learning.
• We note further that the livelihoods of ordinary citizens were relegated to second place in consideration of the broader scheme of things. The obvious consequence to this has been the low turnout on income tax as well as the exacerbation of poverty levels among the ordinary Batswana. Government’s income tax will as a matter of fact take a knock for the next fiscal year.
• We note with regret as the two labour centres that . whilst it was categorically pronounced and further stipulated by the regulations governing the SOPE, that no retrenchments or termination of employment shall ensue as a result of the SOPE, in reality many workers were left in the lurch without much recourse for any form of assistance.
• We also note, with deep regret, that the working class and the informal economy have drastically lost their sources of livelihoods due to reduced or no earnings at all.
• We further note that during the SOPE, the working class suffered in an unprecedented manner as a result of their earnings being cut down by chunks, in some instances as huge as 60% of their salaries, being forced to take unpaid and forced paid leaves.
• The above, no doubt has resulted in a lot of the working class facing challenges in repaying loans they secured during their working times, paying rents, school fees and even struggling to afford to buy the basic necessities to meet their daily needs.
• As if that was not enough, flagrant escalation of prices of commodities such as basic food items, transport, electricity and fuel only compounded the worker’s dilemma.
• One of the clear-cut provisions of the SOPE regulations was to ban any strikes by workers. The import of this was to strip the workers and their representative organizations of any bargaining power during these hard times and as a consequence, employers took advantage and blatantly scaled down working conditions, and in many instances, out rightly flouting laws governing industrial relations. Bluntly stated and simply put, the SOPE helped perpetuate lawlessness in the world of work.
• In summing up all issues and factoring each m our consideration of the benefits and the downside of the SOPE, we strongly hold that little was achieved in terms of the key reasons presented before the national assembly as the basis for proposing the enactment of the SOPE.
• For example, in motivating the motion for the SOPE government cited the need to mobilize resources to purchase medical requisites and equipment. Ironically though, vast numbers of frontline workers remain exposed and vulnerable to infection because none such special powers as provided by SOPE regulations were ever evoked.
• BFTU and BOFEPUSU believe that as representatives and spokespersons of a wide and large spectrum of the working-class movement and as a critical component of the civil society movement in Botswana, we have a shared responsibility to safeguard the democratic space of this country. Failure to provide this ingredient creates a risk of feeding into the narrative that the SOPE is calculated to cover ulterior political agendas.
• We must hasten to acknowledge our realization that there is a notable spike in the number or statistics of infections. We however submit that the existing Public Health Act provisions, especially Part III, Section 18 enables the Director of Public Health to appropriately and timeously invoke relevant provisions to respond proportionately to the dictates of the situation rather than by way of unnecessary blanket disruption to social, political and many other spheres of public life.
• Any other approach carries potential to ferment otherwise avoidable dissent.
• We contend that in the absence of a genume, transparent and thorough evaluative report showing the effectiveness or otherwise of the past months of SOPE to this point, we cannot find any justifiable basis for supporting a further extension of the State of Public Emergency.
• It is in this same context that we hold that whilst it may not be easy to substantiate allegations of corrupt practices by government officials and members of the executive it appears there is reasonable cause to suspect that officials have used loopholes in the system during the SOPE to appropriate to themselves, friends and their relatives resources belonging to the public by way of “special procurement processes”. It would therefore be in the public interest and transparency to dispel any further misperceptions around this type of procurement processes.
• Finally, extending the SOPE may lead to a total collapse of what remains of our industry and a further massive loss of employment with disastrous social and political outcomes for the country.
• Our position is therefore a clear–No to the extension of SOPE.