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Botswana: Govt Must Protect HIV Positive Employees
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
EDITORIAL
12 March 2008
Posted to the web 12 March 2008
In the days when HIV/AIDS has become inseparable from our daily lives, it is unfortunate that some employers find it appropriate to discriminate against workers on the basis of their HIV status.
Just how often have we heard the slogan of a caring and a loving nation being chanted? At every turn each and every company joins in the bandwagon, perhaps just to dupe the gullible into thinking that indeed organizations and corporations care about the lofty words encapsulated in our vision 2016.But alas, discrimination of any form including the one based on people's health status is the order of the day. Worse still, this is perpetrated by well established and respected organisations.
Reports that the Assistant Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Gaotlhaetse Matlhabaphiri has told Parliament that some diamond firms in the country subject their workers to mandatory HIV testing before they employ them is a matter of serious concern. It is against the laws of Botswana to discriminate against anybody on the basis of his or her health status. The minister should have told Paliament in clear terms what action government would take against companies that violate the country's laws, and violate the constitution.
It is high time that trade unions and other members of the public give voice and support to such bodies as the Botswana Network on Ethics, Laws, HIV and AIDS (BONELA) and others which have been at the forefront of waging a relentless struggle against such wanton disregard for people's rights.
This phenomenon is not new in Botswana.
There is the 2002 case in which the Botswana Building Society (BBS) was accused of firing one of its staff because he had tested HIV positive. Though the Industrial Court held that the Society acted wrongly, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the BBS. In another related matter, companies such as Debswana that tested their employees for HIV before they went for further studies came under attack from BONELA, which argued that the practice denied those who tested HIV positive an opportunity to get scholarships even if they qualified.It would be interesting to find out what the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs has done since they received last year's petition for an HIV employment law. The petition, in part, stated that testing for HIV for purposes of consideration for employment, promotion or other benefits should be outlawed.
Companies that subject their workers to mandatory HIV testing should understand that being HIV positive in itself does not make a person unable to work.Those that may not be positive currently may in future be exposed to HIV/AIDS.
Today's Thought
There are, in every age, new errors to be rectified and new prejudices to be opposed.
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-Samuel Johnson
As human being, we have to bear in mind that we are born equally and free.Is not our ambition to become Hiv/Aids victim.Employers must not descriminate workers on the basis of their Hiv status, they must consider if the person is fit and has the ability to work.A person can have experience on a certain job task but the fact that he or she is Hiv positive can be a hinderance for getting a job, that is not fair, what matters is the person's ability.
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