You Can No Longer Fire People "Like Roaches" Botswana's New Labour Law Explained

Botswana has a new Employment & Labour Relations Act and almost nobody has read it. In this episode of Off Script Africa, host Amo sits down with labour lawyer and lecturer David Mujama for a plain-language walk through what actually changes for every employer and every employee in the country. David came to Botswana from Kenya, watched his law firm collapse, failed at private practice, and found his calling teaching labour law. Along the way he developed a simple conviction: we spend most of our waking lives at work, so the law about that time matters more than almost anything. "Employment is life." Together they get into the changes that will affect real people: why you can no longer fire someone without a proper hearing and a fair, valid reason; the new rules that make bullying, harassment, violence and a "toxic work environment" the employer's problem to disprove; how the pay gap really works in the interview room; the reformed leave provisions maternity now 14 weeks, plus paternity, adoption, family responsibility and trade union leave; probation, poor performance and incapacity reframed around compassion rather than punishment; child-labour protections; and why David believes the Act will attract better investors rather than scare them away. It's also a genuinely warm, funny conversation about resilience, leadership (with a detour through Jürgen Klopp), and why Botswana happiest of places for David still needs to fix the one place people are sad: the workplace. If you employ anyone in Botswana, work for anyone, or are about to, this one is for you. David even names the exact sections to read for yourself. Chapters are below. If a moment lands, tell us in the comments especially if you've seen the pay gap, "mobbing," or unfair firing up close. Subscribe to Off Script Africa for real conversations with Africa's professionals, founders and creatives and share this with the one person at work who needs to hear it. 232 Topics: Botswana new labour law · Employment and Labour Relations Act · disciplinary hearing procedure · unfair dismissal · maternity & paternity leave Botswana · workplace harassment & bullying · probation rights · retrenchment · trade unions · ILO standards. Off Script Africa real conversations with Africa's professionals, founders and creatives. (Nothing in this episode is legal advice; confirm your position with a qualified practitioner or the Institute.) 00:00 Introduction 00:01:37 Meet David Mujama lawyer, lecturer, father of three 00:02:22 How a collapsed law firm led him to teaching 00:02:47 "The big three" you need to run a law firm 00:03:53 Lecturing is like doing a trial with no judge 00:05:37 The road not taken engineering, accounting & an LLM 00:07:31 How his colleagues, cleaners and kids describe him 00:09:33 Why employment law matters: "employment is life" 00:11:27 The pay gap, single mothers & Section 18 00:15:16 What's already being implemented disciplinary hearings 00:17:33 Sexual harassment duties & the new retrenchment rules 00:19:51 The new definition of a "worker" (including job applicants) 00:21:37 Full-time, fixed-term, part-time & the end of "temporary" 00:26:44 Leave reform: maternity, paternity, adoption & family 00:33:10 Sick leave, hospital days & incapacity 00:35:07 A quick history of the ILO 00:36:16 Child labour: from 14 to 15, apprentices & "light work" 00:38:29 You can't just fire people the five ways to terminate 00:42:07 Probation & the supervisor who abused it 00:46:55 Poor performance reframed compassion over punishment 00:51:09 What makes a workplace legally "toxic" 00:53:07 Harassment, "mobbing," tribe & language at work 00:57:09 Bullying, violence & the employer's reverse onus (Section 17) 00:58:55 Penalties: damages, P50,000 fines & imprisonment 01:00:53 Quid pro quo harassment 01:04:40 A nugget from King Solomon 01:06:47 Mediation, arbitration & the 90 days 01:10:33 "Batswana aren't lazy" productivity & working conditions 01:13:00 What the Act means for trade unions 01:15:06 How the Act was made and why business is nervous 01:17:47 The policies every employer needs now 01:21:09 The big mindset shift: "let us work together" 01:21:45 Win with humility, lose with honour 01:23:00 "Breathe, you're not drowning" & leadership lessons from Klopp 01:25:20 What David wants to be remembered for 01:26:27 About the Institute and where to find David 01:28:29 Close ________________________________________