Ipelegeng popular among women
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The latest Labour Statistics Report 2013 published by Statistics Botswana in June 2017 has revealed that trend shows that employment for both males and females increased between the years 2006 and 2009, forming a mirror image, when male employment decreased then the female employment increased.
The gap between males and females was reduced during the month of September 2012; this is due to a significant number of females employed by the Ipelegeng program in Local government. This shows that Ipelegeng is absorbing more women than men.
Ipelegeng is a Government Initiative or programme whose main objective is to provide short term employment support and relief whilst at the same time carrying out essential development projects that have been identified and prioritized through the normal development planning process.
It targets unskilled and semi-skilled labour for short term assistance due to other economic factors through the use of simple tools and machinery. The programme focuses on maintenance of public facilities. Ipelegeng is targeted mainly at being a source of supplementary income and employment to, but not limited to, vulnerable members of the community. Currently the programme targets at engaging a total of 50,000 beneficiaries per month.
Meanwhile the 2013 Labour report states that in September 2013 the employment for females started to decrease in the formal sector. On employment by sex and sector the results show that during September 2013, the highest proportion of female employees was in Central Government constituting 53.0 percent, followed by Parastatal organisations with 41.2 percent.
“The lowest proportion of women was found in the Local Government with 36.6 percent. Local Government had the highest proportion male employees, 63.4 percent followed by Private sector with 59.2 percent. Overall, there were more males (56.9 percent) as compared to females (43.1 percent),” reads the report.
At industry level, more men were found in Mining & Quarrying with 84.8 percent, followed by Construction and Water & Electricity with 80.9 and 71.9 percent respectively. Females dominated in Health & Social Work, Other Community Activities, Financial Intermediaries and Hotels & Restaurants, with 70.3, 64.2, 62.9 and 58.2 percent respectively.
Total formal sector employment
Total formal sector employment for the years 2009 to 2013 increased from 389,692 persons during September 2012 to 399,530 persons in September 2013, an increase of 9,838 employees (2.5 percent) over the twelve months period, the report says.
Local Government employment recorded a significant increase of 9.6 percent, from 78,725 in September 2012 to 86,257 persons employed during the same month in 2013; followed by Parastatal Organisations with 7.7 percent, from 17,484 to 18,838 persons over the same period. Meanwhile private companies recorded an increase of 0.7 percent, from 188,531 persons in September 2012 to 189,894 persons in September 2013, while Central Government showed a decrease of 0.4 percent, from 104,925 to 104,541 persons in September 2013.
For the years 2003 to 2013 the trend shows that overall employment was increasing over the period, except for the year 2005 where there was a slight drop due to a decrease in the number of Central Government employees. Formal Sector Employment as at September 2013 indicates that for Private & Parastatal employment by industry for September 2012 and September 2013.
“Almost all the industries, recorded an increase in employment levels in September 2013. Water & Electricity recorded the highest increase of 11.9 percent in employment, followed by Health with 2.1 percent. Mining & Quarrying recorded an increase of 2.0 percent in employment during the twelve months period. Real Estate remained constant over the twelve months period. Water & Electricity recorded the highest increase in employment (4.5 percent); followed by Agriculture and Other Community Services with 3.5 and 2.0 percent respectively. Health & Social Work and Real Estate were constant over this period.”
According to the Statistics Botswana Labour report, private sector employment accounted for 47.5 percent of total formal employment in September 2013. Central Government accounted for 26.2 percent of the total formal employment in September 2013, while Local government and Parastatals recorded 21.6 and 4.7 percent respectively.
Commerce (Wholesale & Retail Trade and Hotels & Restaurants) constituted 31.6 percent of total Private & Parastatal employment during September 2013, followed by Manufacturing and Construction with 17.8 and 11.4 percent respectively. Health & Social Work recorded the lowest employment with 1.5 percent.
Employment by industry between September 2012, December 2012 and September 2013 is shown in Figure 1.6 below. The results show that between September 2012 and December 2012, most industries recorded a slight increases in employment. Only two industries, that is, Agriculture and Other community Services recorded decreases, of 2.7 (from 6,479 to 6,304) and 1.0 percent (from 4,214 to 4,170) in employment respectively. Between December 2012 and September 2013, four industries, Hotels & Restaurant, Transport & Communication, Financial Intermediaries and Education recorded decreases in employment. Real Estate was almost constant over the three quarters.
The labour force
In 2013, the labour force consisted of 900,337 persons. The labour force comprises the employed and the unemployed. Amongst the labour force, 720,296 (80.0%) were employed and 180,041 (20.0%) were unemployed. The unemployed are persons who stated that they were actively seeking work during the reference period, and are aged 15 years and above. Information on discouraged job seekers, (that is; people who were available to work but not seeking work during the reference period because they were discouraged) was not collected.
Employed population is defined to cover all persons in the working age group (15 years and over). The survey estimated employed persons at 720,294, of which 382,043 were males (53.0 percent) and 338,251 (47.0 percent) were females. The main industrial employers were Agriculture (25.5 percent), Wholesale and Retail Trade (13.2 percent), Real Estate (8.3 percent), Public Administration (8.1 percent) and Local Government (7.4 percent). Foreign Missions were the least with 340 employees, representing 0.05 percent of total employment.
Males were more dominant in Construction with 92.1 percent, followed by Transport & Communication and Mining & Quarrying with 89.1 and 80.5 percent respectively. Female employment in Education, Financial Intermediaries, Local Government and Health accounted for more than 60 percent of employment in each of sectors. A significant number of females was recorded in Private Households (91.1 percent) followed by Education (72.0 percent).
The Survey indicates that the most common occupations were elementary occupation accounting for 28.5 percent followed by Skilled Agricultural Workers and Services/Sales workers with 16.1 and 12.2 percent of the total employment respectively. The majority of Elementary Occupations were in the Agricultural industry, (33.2 percent) followed by Local Government and Private Households with 17.8 and 16.6 percent respectively. Managers/Administrators recorded the least occupation with 3.8 percent.
“The results indicated that 67.7 percent of the employed population worked for paid employment (in cash), followed by 15.1 percent of persons who worked in their lands/cattle posts. Self-employed persons (with no employees) recorded 9.2 percent of the total employment. The majority (17.1 percent) of employed population was in Gaborone, followed by Kweneng East with (12.7 percent) and Central Serowe/Palapye ranked third with 7.8 percent.
Unemployment rate
The Botswana AIDS Impact Survey overall unemployment rate was estimated at 20.0 percent, higher than the 19.9 percent recorded during the 2011 Population and Housing Census. The most affected age groups were the youths aged 20-24 and 25-29 as shown in the figure below.
“The total unemployed population was 180,041 out of which 82,834 (46.0 percent) were males, and 97,206 (54.0 percent) were females. Unemployment was more prevalent among the age group, 20-24 years, which constituted 28.7 percent of the total unemployment, followed by aged group 25-29 years with 22.1 percent. Youth aged 15-34 years accounted for 77.7 percent of the total unemployed during the 2013 Botswana AIDS Impact Survey.”
Most of the unemployed were found in urban villages (46.0 percent). This could be due to migration of the population from rural areas to urban villages for better opportunities. The least unemployment was recorded by Towns with 5.2 percent.
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Malawi appeals for help over Cyclone Freddy at PAP
As of yesterday evening, the death toll from the Cyclone in Malawi had risen from the initially reported 190 to 225 in a short period of time, over 20 000 people have been displaced, and the worst of fears are yet to come as the fatalities continue to mount. This was reported by a Malawi Member of Parliament attending the Pan African Parliament session in Midrand, South Africa, Hon Steven Mikiya.
Mikiya was giving a statement on behalf of Malawi as the ongoing Pan African Parliament in South Africa.
Mikiya said the Cyclone has wreaked the most havoc in our country’s Southern Region. “The Southern Region, has been hardest hit with widespread heavy rains and strong winds. This caused a rapid rise in water levels and subsequent flooding. Meanwhile, power supply has been disrupted, roads blocked off and rendered impassable and mudslides have also been widely reported,” he said.
He made a special appeal to the PAP: “Where I come from, there is a parable which I would like to share with you which says, “mzako weniweni umamudziwa panthawi ya mavuto.” Simply put, a friend in need is a friend indeed or put loosely, a person who helps at a difficult time is a friend you can rely on.”
Mikiya continued: “Yes! Misfortune has knocked on our door and left in its wake a trail of death and destruction that may take years to fully recover from. However, amidst these difficulties, I have every reason to believe that sometimes when you are in a dark place and think you have been buried, you have actually been planted. My belief, Mr. President, arises out of my faith in this gathering and out of the conviction that it is not coincidental that Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi and Mozambique while the delegations of both countries are here.”
According to Mikiya, the level of destruction, the loss of life, property and the decimation of the entire fabric of established communities has been unprecedented. He noted that all this, is coming at a time when Malawi was starting to show signs of recovery from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that also came hard on the heels of Cyclone Ana and Cyclone Gombe that left a similar trail of devastation and destruction in Malawi and neighbouring countries.
As of Sunday, this week, from the 12th of March, Malawi and Mozambique have been facing the devastating effects of Cyclone Freddy that made a landfall over Mozambique on Saturday the 11th and reached Malawi by Sunday the 12th of March.
The Malawi legislator said he has absolute faith in the Pan African Parliament, which he described as “a league of nations brought together by a shared ancestry, history, identity as well as our beloved continent which we inhabit”.
Meanwhile, Malawi President, Lazarus Chakwera, has declared a State of Disaster in the affected areas effectively appealing for local and international support for the affected families.
Mikiya appealed to the Pan African Parliament drawing “positive” inspiration from Europe which rallied around Turkey after the destructive earthquakes to bring the much-needed relief and humanitarian aid to the people of Turkey.
He said Africa should demonstrate to the world that the African Union and its Organs are not mere talk shows, but effective institutions which stand up when it matters most.
“Alone, it may take us a lifetime to fully recover, but together, in the Pan-Africanist spirit of Ubuntu, our lives and livelihoods will return to a semblance of normality in record time. This is the time to live by our operative mantra, “One Africa, One Voice.” Mikiya concluded.