08 May 2014

Mr Madikwe Alexwai of Letlhakane in the Boteti sub-district, has applauded Orapa, Letlhakane, and Damtsha Mines (OLDM) for offering his family a gift they had never dreamed of in their lifetime.

Mr Alexwai's family received a new and modern house from the diamond mines recently. “Before this house, we lived in a tent after our only one-roomed mud hut was destroyed by the recent heavy rains,” he said.

He added that he was not able to build his family a proper house because he was unemployed and his wife was handicapped due to a road accident some years ago. He thanked social workers for coming to their rescue during such bad times saying the family life was now different because they had proper shelter.

Mr Alexwai was in fact not the only recipient of a beautiful house built and donated by the mines; seven more such houses were donated to equally deserving beneficiaries in the area.

The eight houses were built in response to the President’s Housing Appeal in which people and organisations were requested to assist disadvantaged members of the society with some dignified shelter. 

Debswana’s gesture of good will did not focus on disadvantaged individuals only. Two years ago the company donated P334 319.00 to the Boteti sub-district show committee for the resuscitation of the local agricultural show. 

At the time, the chairperson of the show committee, Mr Letebele Motlogelwa, welcomed the donation saying it would be used to renovate the dilapidated structures such as toilets, perimeter fence, exhibition stalls, and cattle kraals.

“Today we are able to hold the show under proper structures,” he said with pride. 

What’s more, recently Debswana adopted Mokobaxane Primary School in the Boteti sub-district to the tune of P2 million, and, when the school head, Ms Francina Masole, commented, she said: 

“The funds will be used to construct a block of three classrooms, an administration block and a library. The response was so fast after I had approved the management of ODLM for assistance,” she said.

The helping hand of Debswana did not stop there as it extended even to the business community. 

Mr Mackey Nthabane , the owner of one of the reputable businesses in Letlhakane known as Tsele le Tsele Printers, had this to say: 

“Debswana has proved to be a trusted and long standing consumer of my products and services.

 I have been doing business with the company for quite a long time now offering them print and photo copying services, as well as providing them with stationery,” he said.

One of the youthful entrepreneurs in Letlhakane, Mrs Juliet Mphanyane of Keddydams Printers, has also appreciated the support of Debswana as the local mining industry has given her businesses the much needed boost.

Yet another appreciator, Mr Senior Matlaabua, commended Debswana for developing the local infrastructure, citing the tarring of the feeder road linking Letlhakane to the Orapa/Francistown road.

He said the road had been an eye sore for years as the dust generated from it was a health hazard that always caused concern for the residents before Debswana funded a project for its tarring. 

The whole idea, according to the Orapa, Letlhakane, and Damtsha Mines general manager, Dr Adrian Gale, Debswana, is to leave a lasting legacy behind that will be able to sustain the local communities during ‘life after diamonds’.

The company’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme is the vehicle the company uses to achieve its objective of assisting the communities within which it operates, said Dr Gale during one of the various donation ceremonies he attended.

The discovery and development of diamonds since the early years of independent Botswana has clearly transformed many lives in Botswana from farming to modern ways of life.

Boteti area, where most of diamond mining activities are found, was never left behind in this transformation as the livelihoods of the communities in the area also benefited in a positive way. 

Today the area boasts of four diamond mines three of which; Orapa, Letlhakane, and Damtshaa Mines, are owned by Debswana, while the newly opened Karowe Diamond Mine is under Boteti Mining. 

As the nation is moving towards 2016 and doing all it can towards the realisation of Vision 2016, at the time when the country will be celebrating 50 years of Independence, Debswana continues to be a strong partner supporting the vision. 

Mr Nthabane said the mining industry is the engine that drives the economy of Boteti, adding that people move to villages like Letlhakane in large numbers in search of employment in the mines, while those employed are the main consumers of goods and services provided by the local business industry. 

“The ever increasing population of Letlhakane due to the mining industry is good for our businesses, and I appeal to the business community to work closely with the mining industry because they are a strong partner in the growth and sustenance of our enterprises,” Mr Nthaile concluded. Ends