A farmer worker who worked illegally in Botswana for 20 years, is smiling all the way to the bank, after the Court of Appeal recently ordered his former employer, Dr Nonofo Keaikitse to pay him over P27 000.00 as severance benefits.
The Zimbabwean national, Webster Masuka’s woes began in 2021, when he rendered his three months’ notice in December 2020 that he will be leaving his employment end of February 2021. His employer thereafter promised to duly pay him his severance pay. A promise Dr Keaikitse did not live up to.
According to the complainant, his salary was P1 700 per month at the time he left employment. However, Dr Keakitse disputed saying, his monthly salary was P1 530.00 and an additional P170.00 which was paid as gratuity to him. A claim Masuka vehemently refuted.
Evidence brought before the Court Appeal was that Masuka’s letter of employment dated December 2013, which reflected his gross salary being P1 500.00 inclusive of all benefits. The letter signed by both parties.
“From June 2015 until I left employment my salary was P1 700. This is after I had pleaded with my employer to give me an increase of P200 because I had lost most of the personal belongings and that I had a family to look after and I was now paying rent,” said the former farm worker.
Masuka’s former employer differed with this evidence and stated that in November 2016, he increased the salary from the initial P1 500.00 to P1 530.00 and in addition paid him P170.00 month as gratuity. In an effort to prove his claim, Dr Keakitse produced a letter dated 7 October 2016, showing the above offer. But the letter of offer was not co-signed by Masuka with him arguing that he was seeing it for the first time in court.
“The Court did not accept the evidence of the appellant that he agreed with the respondent that his basic salary would be P1 530.00 and an additional P170 as gratuity. The Court further made a finding that the document relied upon by the appellant did not support his case because it was not signed by the respondent and for the it did not appear authentic. It did not have the stamp from the Labour’s office,” concluded Chief Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe.
He added, “the appellant had the duty to keep records in respect of his employee, including keeping the records that the respondent (Masuka) as a foreign national had a valid work permit to work for him. The only explanation the appellant could give was that such records were probably lost when he moved places. This in my view was a far cry from the categorical denial that the respondent did not have a work permit authorising him to be employed by the appellant.”
