A transport organisation that Botswana inherited from Zimbabwe 36 years ago may itself be as broke as that country has been for decades now. Jinx or not, Botswana Railways (BR) is now struggling to meet its financial obligations to staff members and its trade union has taken it to court.
The extent of the organisation’s financial woes is detailed in minutes of a February 1, 2023 meeting that form part of a case before the Gaborone Industrial Court. The Botswana Transport and General Workers Union (BTGWU) has hauled BR before the Court over its persistent failure to pay employees on time. The late payment means that employees are being penalised by creditors and service providers with whom they have an agreement to make scheduled payments. Through its lawyer, Sesupo Mosweu of Labour Matters Inc., BTGWU has made a case that BR is in breach of its contractual obligations to its employees.
Naturally BR will make its own case in court but what BR’s Acting Director of Finance, Amon Sefawe said at the February 1 meeting is useful for purposes of understanding why BR is Zimbabwe-broke. In response to complaints about the late payment, BR wrote banks asking them to “to at least give Botswana Railways employees five days allowance after payday to pay their loans.”
Sefawe quoted misaligned figures that reveal the extent to which BR is in dire straits.
“Trains have not been running well and the salary bill stands at P14 million per month and fuel must be paid as well. He added that management has decided to prioritise amenities such as fuel for operations to run smoothly with the hope that things will change. He said that for the organisation to operate effectively and efficiently, it needs about P26 million a month, including payment of all other services catered for,” the minutes read, noting in another part that BR pays P8 million a month for fuel only.
Sefawe mentioned two “culprits” as being the source of BR’s financial woes. “On the issue that the organisation is performing badly, the Acting Director Finance added that Botash and MCM are not paying them well and also that they too are struggling. He said that the aim is to make arrangements with the two companies to pay them on time.” Botash is the portmanteau of Botswana Ash (Pty) Ltd, a parastatal organisation owned by the Botswana government and a South African company called Chlor Alkali Holdings at 50 percent shareholding each. MCM is the abbreviation for Morupule Coal Mine, which is wholly owned by Minerals Development Company Botswana.
Perhaps the most startling revelation, one that illuminates the depth of BR’s financial problems, was that made by BTGWU’s president, Gaebepe Molaodi. The minutes quote her as saying that “tax is not being paid to BURS.” The latter refers to the Botswana Unified Revenue Services. Nowhere in the minutes was this revelation countered by any representative of BR management.
