SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
FRANCISTOWN: High Court Judge Bengbame Sechele has postponed the matter in which Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) was seeking the court to interdict the commencement of the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC).
Bengbame ruled for the matter to be heard on Tuesday to allow other parties served with court papers just before it started- time to prepare. “Postponing the matter will enable both parties to ventilate on the matter thoroughly. Further this will assist on the determination of the court outcome. Therefore, the matter will be argued on Tuesday,” he said.
When applying for postponement, BOPEU through their lawyer Martin Dingake of Dingake Law Partners submitted that they need more time to reply to Botswana Federation of Public Sector Union (BOFEPUSU). He argued that the nature of the matter requires the full attention of all the documents to enable the court to deal with the matter diligently: “We have just been served with some of the court documents just before the commencement of the matter, therefore we need more time to familiarize ourselves with them thoroughly.” In addition, he stated that their deponent was not available and therefore the matter could not continue.
BOFEPUSU Lawyer, Mboki Chilisa, of Collins Chilisa Legal Consultants however argued for the matter to not be postponed, saying they were made to prepare in less than 24 hours: “It is not fair for the matter to be postponed as we were served and prepared in less than 24 hours. Besides that we were made to travel more than 400 kilometers for the case while it could have been scheduled in Gaborone. It was mischievous to bring this matter in Francistown while both parties involved are based in Gaborone.”