26 May 2019

Debswana, through its mines, has enabled government to provide citizens with basic needs.

 “We were the first county in the whole of Africa to provide free ARVs to our citizens and this is mainly due to particularly Jwaneng mine. The mine has also enabled us to provide free universal primary education, universal health care and other necessities such as water resources and peace,” President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said.

He was speaking during a familiarisation tour of Jwaneng mine on Friday.

Dr Masisi said the mines played a pivotal role in taking the country through transformation from its formative years. 

He expressed hope that the ongoing partnership negotiations with De Beers would bear positive results and further cement good relations between the country and the conglomerate. 

He said such cordial relations would ensure more positive yields were realised and enjoyed by the owners of the resource, citizens of Botswana. On manpower issues, Dr Masisi expressed the need to invest and retain talented and skilled personnel rather than letting them retire while they could still add value. 

“I am determined to ensure that the very best human capital that we have never retires completely. It is painful that we have such skilled people retiring to the cattle posts and relegating themselves to the lowest level of subsistence farmers, which does not make sense,” he said. 

Dr Masisi appreciated mine employees for their commitment to duty in ensuring the mining of the resource that enriched the whole country which he hailed as patriotism. 

In his welcome remarks, Debswana managing director Mr Albert Milton informed the President that the mine had just started its Cut 9 project which was expected to produce 52 million carats annually and that in a few years, the company would start Cut 3 in Orapa expected to produce more than 100 million carats a year. “Both cuts are world class assets to look after, so the future is bright,” he said. Mr Milton said Debswana contributed 23 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product with 75 per cent of that coming from the Jwaneng mine alone.  He promised that the company would ensure responsible mining of the resource as it was a responsibility bestowed upon them by Batswana.

Mr Milton said Debswana boasts of having one of the safest mines in the world, with only 0.16 per cent rate of accidents against a global average of 0.7 per cent which he said indicated the seriousness with which the company took safety. 

As a company, he said, Debswana was involved in a lot of corporate social responsibility, especially in areas of health, education and the provision of water to their environs. 

The President was accompanied by First Lady Neo Masisi as well as the Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development Mr Tshenolo Mabeo.ends