Kgalagadi Plastics caught breaking the law

Atleast eight illegal Zimbabwean immigrants were arrested on Tuesday while on duty at Kgalagadi Plastics Industries in Gaborone, Botswana Guardian can reveal.

It all started on Monday when management requested employees who were knocking off from the 6am to 2pm shift to do a ‘piece job’ of off-loading polymer - the raw material used to make plastics - from the palletswhich had to be returned to the supplier in South Africa. However, the two parties did not agree on the P200 payment, which led to management going out to Phase 2 to look for cheap labour from Zimbabwean expatriates who do not have residential and work permits. Police officers from Old Naledi station were tipped off and went to the factory where they arrested the men on Tuesday.

In an interview with BG News, factory manager Boycey Barungwi confirmed the arrest and said they went out and looked for people to do the job, which was going to take less than six hours. “In the past when we hired our employees to do ‘piece jobs’, it slowed down productivity of their main duties,” he said, explaining that he was shocked that in less than an hour, police officers were already at their premises.

He however said they were not specifically looking for Zimbabweans but people from outside who could finish the job quickly. He explained that they were under pressure to ensure that the pallets were returned to the supplier at the soonest. “It was a mistake on our part and we regret it,” he said.

It is a crime under the laws of Botswana to hire an illegal immigrant. An employer is fined P1000 and above, depending on the duration. A total of 22, 675 illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe were deported from Botswana between January and October in 2013, compared to 17, 402 in 2012.

The largest number of deportations was recorded in the month of December 2009 when 8,314 were transported back home. Two thousand six hundred people were deported in December 2010 while 2, 423 were deported in the same month in 2011.