16 Dec 2024

Ipelegeng is a public works programme designed to provide short-term employment opportunities to relief Batswana affected by economic shocks.

The Minister of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Mr Ketlhalefile Motshegwa indicated in Parliament on Friday that the programme was classified as informal employment because it comprised of casual jobs.

“However, it operates within the formal sector employment as it is managed by government,” he said.

Mr Motshegwa explained that in its current structure, the programme engaged beneficiaries on a monthly rotational basis, except for a few who were involved in skills development, crime prevention such as special constables, crime prevention volunteers, monument custodianship, cleaning and cooking.

“These beneficiaries are employed under contract lasting three months or longer,” he said and further explained that individuals engaged in the Ipelegeng programme were classified as employed according to Statistics Botswana report based on the definition of employment, which referred to work performed in a specific reference period for payment or profit.

Minister Motshegwa said although Ipelegeng beneficiaries were classified as employed, they were not remunerated according to the government pay structure as they were informally employed.

He also said that the programme in its current form did not provide sustainable employment for most of its beneficiaries.

“One of the key features of public works programme is their self-selective nature, meaning that individuals participate as a last resort and only as a temporary measure,” he said.

Mr Motshegwa explained that such programmes were specifically designed not to compete with other important sectors of the economy for labour, hence the wage rate being set below the minimum wage rate of related sectors and the working hours kept below standard levels.

He said the arrangement allowed the beneficiaries the flexibility to engage in other economic activities, to improve their livelihoods.

The minister further said Ipelegeng beneficiaries were not included in the unemployment category since they were employed.

“The employment rate for Botswana according to quarterly multi-topic surveys 2024 quarter one from Statistics Botswana is 27.6 per cent,” he said.

Mr Motshegwa said unemployment referred to people who were seeking jobs and available to work during a period of 30 days

“Ministry has also commenced the transformation of the Ipelegeng programme as part of the government commitment to aligning it with the pledges of the Umbrella for Democratic Change,” he said.

He said upon the reform, workers would be paid P2 500 per month.

Ipelegeng programme workers would also be expected to acquire basic vocational skills, such as bricklaying, carpentry, painting, cement mixing, tree plantation, tree pruning, soil conservation, financial record keeping, basic roofing and basic equipment maintenance among others.

Mr Motshegwa was clarifying a question from the Mogoditshane East legislator, Mr Letlhogonolo Barongwang who had indicated his worry on the level of unemployment in the country.

“Most unemployment people are locked in the Ipelegeng programme, which seems to have no intent of graduating them at one point into a formal employment arrangement,” he said.

Mr Barongwang said that according to the International Labour Organisation, an employed person is one who had been engaged for no less than seven days consecutively.

He also enquired on whether Statistics Botswana considered Ipelegeng workers as employed or not, and how it affected the level of employment in the country. Ends