Cape Town – Botswana has reportedly barred local farmers
from employing "cheap" Zimbabwean workers, saying
farmers should pay farm workers well so that they can
attract Batswana to work in their farms. According to New Zimbabwe.com some Botswana famers had pleaded with government to allow them to hire
Zimbabweans to work in their fields, arguing that they were
"effective" and that Batswana were not keen to work for
locals. But Home Affairs Minister Edwin Batshu rejected the
request, saying government had reserved farm jobs for
locals and did not issue permits to foreigners in that sector. "What will happen if the Zimbabwe economy improves at
the time when Batswana are relying on their cheap labour
in their farms," Batshu was quoted as saying. Another year of economic decline This comes as News Day reported on Wednesday that Zimbabwe was losing skilled agriculture workers to South
Africa and other neighbouring countries. A Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (ZimStat) revealed that the
lack of work opportunities in Zimbabwe and the need to
increase income for the household were some of the major
reasons for emigrating. The revelation comes after a spate of xenophobic attacks
which killed at least seven people in South Africa. South
Africans accuse foreign nationals of taking local jobs by
offering cheap labour. Zimbabwe's economy is currently on its knees and according to the country’s central bank, over 4 000 workers lost their jobs in 2014. The Zimbabwe finance ministry said
4 600 companies closed down between 2011 and October
2014, resulting in 64 000 job losses. Local economists have also warned that, unless something
drastic happens, 2015 will be another year of economic
decline in Zimbabwe, associated with the collapse of social
institutions and a further reduction in the delivery of
essential services to the population. News24


http://m.news24.com/news24/Africa/News/Stop-hiring-Zimbabweans-Botswana-farmers-told-20150429

One - one

Botswana is one of the richest country in Africa. I doubt if its citizen will do those dirty work well, I believe the farmers will need cheap labour from the poorer African countries around.

am sure if it was south africa nigerians wer goin to sing all evil hymns towards south africa. Good move by botswana to prevent xenophobia an to protect there poor an unskilled citizens..enough wit this free roaming africans