03 Apr 2016

The minister of Finance and Development Planning Mr Kenneth Matambo has tabled an urgent motion seeking Parliament to authorise government to act as guarantor in the issuance of a US$100 million loan to BCL Limited aimed at helping to ease the mine’s financial problems.

According to Mr Matambo, the loan will be sourced from Barclays Bank and the ABSA Bank Limited and will attract approximately 4.5 per cent interest.

Mr Matambo said the BCL Group encompassing the BCL Limited, which operates the BCL Mine in Selebi Phikwe, and the Tati Nickle Company, is wholly owned by government and provides a lot of direct and indirect employment opportunities for Batswana.

He said the Selebi Phikwe Mine alone employed more than 6 000 people but was currently experiencing severe cash flow problems due to declining commodity prices.

“These low commodity prices are anticipated to prevail until 2018. The group’s financial performance has deteriorated and the loan is intended to serve as an interim measure to avoid the disruption of business at the mines,” Mr Matambo said.

The minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources Mr Kitso Mokaila stated that the BCL Group owed creditors in the region of P900 million, pointing out that government had to intervene so that the group paid its debts and continued operating.

He said government intended to keep BCL Mine operating to avoid job losses that could affect thousands of families if the mine was to shut down.

As a long term intervention, he stated that government had started to diversify the group’s business operations with emphasis on prospecting in other explorations around the country and in the region. “The idea is for us to become a metallurgical hub for Southern Africa,” Mr Mokaila said.

The MP of Boteti East Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe said the two mines played a critical role in employment creation and must be assisted to remain operational.

Palapye MP Mr Moiseraela Goya shared the sentiments, arguing that a lot of families would face economic ruin if the two mines were to cease operation.

Bobonong MP, Mr Shaw Kgathi, praised government for taking steps to save the BCL mine from collapse.

“Mines are facing problems all over the world and some have even collapsed in other countries. But this government is not willing to let the BCL Mine collapse since many families would be affected,” Mr Kgathi said.

However, the MP of Gaborone Bonnington South Mr Ndaba Gaolathe said the minister should have informed Parliament about the conditions of the loan, and spelt out how the performance of BCL group would be monitored to avoid exposing government to financial risks.

He urged the minister to ensure that BCL group was assisted both financially and management wise to help turn it into a profitable and world class mining company.

Selebi Phikwe West MP Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse agreed that the BCL Group must be helped because it was facing liquidity problems.

However, he cautioned that financial assistance alone would not help to address the problems affecting the mine in Selebi Phikwe. He said government should scrutinise the way the mine was being managed because there were allegations of corruption and poor decision making regarding investments made by BCL Group.

“I am getting reports that this is the worst crisis that BCL has ever experienced. 

It will be wrong to think that the loan is a panacea to the problems being experienced by the mine.

We should scrutinise the decision making that has been made at the mine. There ought to be critical appraisal of BCL to this Parliament to assure us that things are done in order at the mine,” he said.

He advised the minister to order the BCL Mine management to engage employees on the problems faced by the mine, stating that workers are complaining that they have not been addressed about the issue. Ends