Joe Motse tipped for AB top post

Following the call out for a replacement of the last substantive General Manager for Air Botswana, Ben Dhawa, words doing rounds suggest former Commercial Services Director, Joe Motse is a man wanted back as the first employee of the national airline.
The Airline has since advertised the post.

Botswana Guardian has established that Motse’s name has been popping up around the corridors of the airline way before Dahwa took over in 2014. He was then tipped to take over the top post which government later on decided to delocalise by appointing Dahwa, a Zimbabwean national. “He knows this airline more than anyone else. He grew up here and he saw Air Botswana rise and fall, we would be happy to have Motse as our GM”. A source from the Airline informed this paper.

Transport and Communications minister Tshenolo Mabeo announced when appointing Agnes Khunwana acting GM last year that government would look for a citizen of Botswana for the coveted position. However, Motse, who is currently running his own tourism company called Transjoe Tours and Safaris, was a bit cagey with details in an interview with the Botswana Guardian. “I’m no longer with Air Botswana. I have not been tipped about anything. Please don’t bring me into the controversy of the airline,” he said.
He however confirmed to have seen the advert and that some airline staff members and people from the ministry have asked him to apply. “People say that to me all the time and I’m considering applying,” he said, adding, “I’m trained for the airline and I know it inside-out.”

Motse joined Air Botswana in 1996 as a Management Trainee and worked through various ranks before leaving in 2004 as a Marketing Manager. In 2008, he was elected as a Member of the Board for Air Botswana until 2010 when he rejoined the Airline employ as the Director, Commercial. Motse left the airline last year May, in what was described as a painful move by the general staff.

There were allegations that he did not enjoy working under the management of the then-general manager Ben Dahwa, who was sacked together with his board of directors over barely six months after Motse’s departure. The main purpose of the general manager’s job will be to report to the board of directors on development of the corporation’s strategy, advocating and building strategic partnerships to advance the interest of the national airline and creating shareholder value.

As an accountable manager, the general manager will also be responsible to Botswana Civil Aviation Authority on matters of statutory compliance and ensuring adherence to aviation standards and recommended practices as prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation(IATA) and  Operational Standards Audit in order to promote an efficient, safe and secure national transportation system. If he gets the job, Motse will be reporting to former Botswana Defence Force Commander, General Tebogo Carter Masire who was appointed to lead Air Botswana as board chairman, replacing Nigel Dixon-Warren early this year.