Africa-Press – Botswana. A battle over alleged due payables between Botswana Football Association (BFA) and its Technical Director (TD) Tshepo Mphukuthi threatens to throw the association into the abyss.
The BFA TD is suing his principals for failing to adjust his salary whenever the government adjusts the salaries of public service employees. According to sources, Mphukuthi wants the association to pay him around P300 000 in back pays for failing to adjust his salary for over nine years.
“BFA TD is suing because his employer failed to pay him salary adjustment since 2013. He believes he is entitled to annual salary adjustments whenever the government adjusts salaries for public servants. Since 2013 the BFA has never effected any salary adjustment,” explained the source.
Sunday Standard is informed that the then BFA vice president, Boyce Sebetlela who is now chief of Staff at the Office of the President once addressed BFA staff in a meeting and said that salaries will be adjusted as and when the government effects adjustment on public servants but this has never happened since 2013.
According to the source, when the BFA TD first raised his concerns, the association promised to resolve it. The source informed this publication that the BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti and the then Vice president II, Masego Nchingane were expected to attend to the matter and put it to finality before it became public.
At the time, the BFA TD was said to have been willing to take lesser than what he is claiming to ensure the matter was resolved amicably. “Mphukuthi was willing to settle for P150 000 and drop the matter but because there are egos at the BFA they would not budge,” sources explained.
Mphukuthi believes he cannot be subjected to the same salary notch for the past eleven years. “Salaries cannot be stagnant for such a long time against the rising inflation,” said the source.
The allegations that the TD was promoted from the position of senior technical director to TD as an appeasement to drop the case were dismissed by sources. “They said the TD was clever enough to know that if there was such an arrangement, there was the possibility that the BFA might somersault and fire him. Those allegations were there but Mphukuthi has never promised and has never agreed to such,” explained the source.
It is further said initially Mphukuthi was also suing for lost benefits in allowances and per diems which according to sources he has since withdrawn.
Mphukuthi is represented by Kago Boiki of Ramalepa attorneys who could not comment on the matter because he did not get authorisation from his client.
With the matter now in the open, fear is growing that should the BFA TD succeed, others would likely follow suit and demand for adjustments and backpays.
When reached for comment, BFA chief executive officer Mfolo Mfolo said he could not ‘confirm or deny’ the association has an impending lawsuit from its TD.
The BFA CEO went on to add that he could also not discuss anything regarding the issue with the media as such matters are confidential and are ‘between the employer and the employee.’
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