The Botswana Land Boards, Local Authorities and Health Workers Union (BLLAHWU) has welcomed the government’s decision to adopt a hybrid public service delivery model emphasising insourcing, describing it as a progressive, people-centred reform that will protect workers’ rights, improve service quality, and promote sustainable employment.
The decision follows an evaluation by the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) of the Public Service Outsourcing Programme (PSOP), which found that while outsourcing provided some administrative relief, it also resulted in poor working conditions, job insecurity, and inconsistent service quality.
Under the new hybrid framework, outsourcing will be retained only in sectors where it has proven efficient and cost-effective. Core services such as cleaning, gardening, and security—where outsourcing has consistently failed to deliver value or protect workers—will be brought back under government control.
BLLAHWU Secretary General Motshidisi Onyebo Mafoko commended the government’s stance, noting that it reflects a renewed commitment to protecting workers’ welfare and ensuring fair labour practices.
“We support the government’s position. It is a progressive decision that shows government is now thinking more about protecting the workers’ interests. Workers’ rights should be upheld; their remuneration and all other conditions should be promoted,” Mafoko said.
The union argued that outsourcing has historically harmed workers, with private contractors often exploiting employees through low wages, delayed payments, and insecure contracts without benefits. Ending outsourcing in key sectors, BLLAHWU said, will restore dignity, stability, and fairness to the public workforce.
BLLAHWU also emphasised that insourcing will create permanent, pensionable employment, enabling workers to access financial services such as loans and housing while contributing to national economic stability.
The government has outlined several priorities under the hybrid model, including ensuring decent work and fair wages, strengthening accountability and performance monitoring, promoting citizen-owned enterprises where outsourcing remains, and enhancing institutional capacity and labour protections through policy and legal reforms.
BLLAHWU said these priorities align with the union’s long-standing advocacy for a just, inclusive, and equitable public service. Mafoko added that outsourcing has not only undermined labour rights but has proven costly and inefficient, with private companies often overcharging government while delivering substandard services.
“Insourcing will save government millions of Pula that is needed to provide services to other sectors of the economy,” Mafoko said.
As part of the transition, the government is piloting the outsourcing of motor vehicles from the private sector to test where public-private collaboration under the hybrid model is practical, while ensuring that core services affecting workers’ livelihoods are handled internally for greater efficiency and accountability.
Both government and labour view the hybrid model as an opportunity to reset Botswana’s public service delivery system—combining efficiency with compassion and fiscal prudence with fairness.
BLLAHWU believes the shift brings Botswana’s labour policies in line with International Labour Organisation standards advocating decent work, fair pay, and social protection for all.
