- Mokgware warns tourism companies against ill-treatment of workers
- Says there is a pattern to frustrate Batswana businesses
- Calls on industry to respect labour laws
- Dismisses Hatab’s statistics on tourism participation
- Threatens to make public findings from inspections
Fronting, exploitation and low participation of locals in the tourism sector recently took center stage at the just ended HATAB 2025 Annual Conference with the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Pius Mokgware warning operators to respect the labour laws of the country or face the consequences.
Mokgware revealed that his office is inundated with complaints of Batswana in the industry being discriminated against both in the work place and in business. Mokgware said their investigations have proven the complaints to be true and pleaded with the operators to be fair to locals, adding that their failure will clearly be indicative that those in the wrong should not be kept in the country.
“We have seen that certain organisations make all efforts to frustrate Batswana who want to join this industry either in supply of commodities up there in the delta or as players. We have seen that there is a pattern which is being used to actually frustrate Batswana or maybe make their contribution not meaningful.”
He highlighted that in some instances tenders allocated to locals for supply are abruptly cancelled, in order to favour directors or owners’ relatives.
Mokgware also complained that there is a deliberate or strategic way where Batswana are simply sidelined when it comes to employment so that the operators can only employ mostly from neighbouring countries because they are also taken advantage of.
“In one of the incidents, we had issued a work permit to a foreigner after being told that he is a chef but during inspection, the chef now was the general manager.”
The minister further complained that companies in the tourism industry do not want workers to unionise as those attempting to do so are usually gotten rid off as a form of union busting. He also revealed that there are locals fronting for foreigners noting that actual owners behind the same businesses are always unveiled when the veil has been lifted.
Challenging for locals empowerment, Mokgware said the tourism industry should be the biggest player in the challenge of unemployment which Botswana is facing. “We should take unemployment very seriously. It is the responsibility of each one of us more especially the private sector because we are saying the economy should be private sector driven.”
Though HATAB CEO, Lilly Rakorong tried to counter the minister with statistics on the issues of job creation, locals’ participation and their ill treatment in the industry, the minister however dismissed them noting that government has done its own inspections and has statistics to prove the reports.
Rakorong had claimed that data had proved that the industry is the second employer after government. “As an industry we believe that we can drive and create the much-needed jobs. Infact, data proves that this industry indeed has lift up to those expectations. If you are to reflect on the 2019 tourism employment, we are the second employer after government. We believe we need to be to be allowed to build back to those figures and surpass them the reason for the decline is the covid-19.”
She also said there is active citizen participation in the tourism industry in terms of both business ownership and employment. She said in terms of employment over 95% are citizens. According to her, data also indicate that as of January 2025, 90.4%of all tourism businesses are owned by citizens. “We have some licenses that are only reserved for citizens in totality when you look at the overall ownership, citizens from those that are not reserved 82.6% and non citizens hold 8.9% then the joint venture is 8.9%.”
On the issue of ill treatment of workers, she commented, “we have noted comments that a lot of employees within this sector are ill treated. So perhaps us as citizens have to reflect because then this suggest that we as citizen employers and citizen employees we are ill treating our own. I will not want this to be construed to suggest that non citizens are the ones that are ill treating the citizens.”
In response, Mokgware dismissed Rakorong’s statistics, saying they differed from those that government has and uses as officially recognised. He emphasised that on the ill treatment of workers, there is evidence which has been generated from labor inspections.
“I have the statistics of the number of people who have reported abuses to us. We are not just generating the figures. The records are there hence I can pinpoint and say problems derive because of the HR people who are not doing their jobs well.”
Going forward, Mokgware said they will make findings of their inspections public to avoid arguments on such.
Meanwhile, the minister has revealed that his ministry has revamped the internship programme to cover the private sector. He has since urged the sector to empower the gratuates, and not exploit them. He also assured that they are prepared to help the industry grow and become successful, noting that the ministry is working on some of the impediments such as delays in the processing of Visas and working Permits.
