08 Jul 2018

Several MPs who contributed to the debate on the motion calling for government to settle loans for former employees of BCL and Tati Nickel mines threw their weight behind the motion, arguing that such a move would greatly reduce the suffering of the former employees.

Debating the motion, Selebi Phikwe West MP Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse said it was imperative for government to show political will that it cared for its people particularly that the closure of the two mines had rendered the  former employers destitute overnight.

Mr Keorapetse argued that since the closure of the mines was a political decision, it was necessary for government to make another political decision by adopting the motion with the view to lessen the suffering of the former employees and their dependents.

The legislator said the motion needed to be passed particularly because the decision to close the mines was ill-advised in light of the fact that plans were already afoot to revitalise the BCL mine, in particular.

He said it was sad that the mines were closed at a time when many countries were continuing to make huge profits in the mining of copper and nickel.

MP Tawana Moremi of Maun West also supported the motion, saying the closure of the mines had destabilised the lives of many people. 

Mr Moremi observed that it would have been prudent to have put in place a response team prior to the closures.

The team, he said, would have been better placed to provide targeted interventions for the retrenched employees.

Also agreeing with the motion, Nata-Gweta legislator Mr Polson Majaga urged government to devise measures to assist the former employees whose lives he said had been disrupted. Mr Majaga noted that presently, many of the former employees of BCL mine had relocated to Francistown in search of opportunities as none existed in Selebi Phikwe. Labelling the motion progressive, Mr Majaga thus appealed for Parliament to adopt it.

For his part, MP for Gaborone Central Dr Phenyo Butale said the lives of the former employees had been badly affected by the closures hence the need for government to ‘stop theorising’ and do something to change the plight of those affected.

Dr Butale said government needed to come up with concrete and lasting solutions to the situation the former employees had been thrown into by their retrenchments.

Vice President Mr Slumber Tsogwane however disagreed with the motion, dismissing as untrue the arguments that government did not care about the suffering of the former employees of the two mines.

Mr Tsogwane, who is also the MP for Boteti West said it was worth noting that government was not only concerned about the plight of the former employees but also that of the entire Selebi Phikwe region.

He said it was for this reason that government was pushing the agenda to revitalise the economy of the SPEDU region, with the belief that once the efforts paid off, there would be many job opportunities from which even the former mine employees would benefit.

Mr Tsogwane also implored fellow legislators to remember that some businesses in other sectors of the economy had at one point also suffered the same plight as the former BCL and Tati Nickel mines employees.

He said due to the same gesture being sought through the motion not having been adopted when other employees lost their jobs due to business closures, it would raise questions why the former BCL and Tati Nickel mines employees had to enjoy preferential treatment.

Presenting the motion, MP Wynter Mmolotsi of Francistown South had indicated that it was necessary for government to clear loans of former employees as they were under constant pressure from lending institutions due to their failure to service their loans.

Mr Mmolotsi said the closure of the two mines had had far-reaching consequences with some former employees event committing suicide due to the immense pressure they suddenly found themselves having to grapple with after losing their jobs. BOPA