10 Sep 2020

 Parliament has been informed that Khoemacau Mine’s total investment stands  P3.1billion.

Delivering a statement in Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi said the project currently employed 2 473 employees, of which 2 274 were citizens.

Out of  that number, 321 employees are from Ngami District and 103 were in managerial positions against 76 non-citizens in the whole project.

The statement followed a motion by Selebi Phikwe West MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, who had previously requested the review of the statutory instrument of the Khoemacau Mining Company to hire expatriates in certain positions.

Ms Mokgethi informed Parliament that the review of the exempted positions would be a continuous process in order to allow the company time to establish itself without any hindrance for smooth operation of the mine.

“I want to assure the house that the training and localisation processes will be dealt with on a continuous monitoring basis, especially that the company has established a well-resources training centre for mining related courses, not only for their mine, but also for use by the mining industry in general,” she stated.

She also stated that Khoemacau as a new mine,  would need time to establish itself and as such it would need key positions of experienced people to start the operations of the mine.

Furthermore, Ms Mokgethi said ministry and other relevant stakeholders would continue to monitor and review the statutory instrument as the project progressed.

She said it had been noted that some positions would be required for a short term at setup level only.

“As government, it is only proper and in the interest of our nation that we support operations that have a potential for job creation and tax revenue,” she said.

In that regard, she stated that the Khoemacau Mine at full operation would employ 2 700 employees and after construction, it would remain with 1 000 permanent employees, which she said was a positive move towards job creation.

 

Furthermore, she said the project was also vital as it contributed to diversification of the economy from diamonds to copper. BOPA