Civil servants in Botswana have suspended their eight-week-long strike, unions and government have confirmed.

The decision, taken by the Botswana Federation of Public Service Unions (BOFEPUSU), has been received with mixed feelings by strikers, reports the Botswana news service, The Monitor.

"Some union members accuse the union leadership of taking a unilateral decision to suspend the industrial action without seeking opinion from the general membership first through a congress," the Monitor reported.

The government said in a statement that it met with union representatives on Sunday to confirm the suspension and "welcomes every employee to work." However, it said employees in essential services who had been fired for striking should "apply for re-employment... as soon as it is practically possible."

The Monitor quoted BOFEPUSU's labour secretary, Johnson Motshwarakgole, as saying that suspension was the only way of preventing growing levels of violence and avoiding more arrests of union members.

"Currently we are winning our case because the government is rehiring the essential service workers," he was quoted as saying. "We found the need to go back and strategise because nobody expected the strike would last this long."

He said the strike not been ended, but only suspended pending a special congress on June 25.