19 Sep 2016

A high-level team led by the Vice President Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi was in the copper/nickel mining town of Selebi-Phikwerecently to see how the town could be saved from becoming a white elephant.

Mr Masisi said during a tour of the town’s lifeblood – BCL Mine, that the visit was important and serious because the mine sustained the livelihoods of the Selebi Phikwe community and the national economy in general.

He said President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama, who set up the subcommittee that consists of members drawn from the Cabinet, was not prepared to watch helplessly as the country and its citizens suffered.

“Our political commitment is to interrogate the ethics of sustaining BCL Mine and to determine the future of Selebi Phikwe,” he said, adding that their mission was to look into the issues besieging the BCL Mine.

The subcommittee conducted a number of meetings with various interest groups that make up the town that Selebi-Phikwe is, including BCL Mine management, Napro Plant, SPEDU, Botswana Mine Workers Union leadership, and senior government officials, among others.

One of the committee members, Mr Kitso Mokaila, who is the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, said their findings would be taken to the Cabinet for consideration and final decision.

He said the final decision or recommendations regarding BCL Mine’s future was expected to be made by Cabinet on September 21, this year.

Mr Jack Tlhagale, who is Botswana Mine Workers Union President (BMWU), said in an interview that the worker’s union leadership hoped that the decision that would be taken would benefit BCL Mine and its employees, as well as the town of Selebi Phikwe.

Mr Tlhagale said as BMWU they did not wish for the BCL Mine to close down; rather, more investigations needed to be carried out to find out ways to assist the mine. He said BCL Mine had the potential to operate as a viable business; only it needed a change of strategy and mining methods such that the expenditure levels become better.

The subcommittee comprises Mr Masisi as the chairperson, Mr Mokaila, Minister of Finance and Development Planning Mr Kenneth Matambo, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Mr Vincent Seretse, Minister of Infrastructure, Science and Technology Mr Nonofho Molefhi, and Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Mr Tshekedi Khama.

The team was divided into two groups whereby the VP and Minister Mokaila visited the BCL Mine, laboratories, smelter and the farm, while the other ministers visited SPEDU, National Processing Plant and Pula Steel Manufacturing plant. ENDS