11 Apr 2021

The Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security Mr Lefoko Moagi has briefed Parliament on the liquidation process of BCL Group of Companies.

The minister    informed Parliament on Friday, that the liquidator had received offers from three companies, Qora Limited, Premium Nickel Resources (PNR) and Msymba Group SA, from Guernsey, Canada and South Africa respectively.

He said PNR was selected as the preferred bidder by the liquidator and had been given six months to undertake a more detailed due diligence on the assets before they could make a bidding offer.

The minister said if they were interested in the assets, transaction would be concluded but if they were not interested, the liquidators would decide on what to do with the assets, including stripping off the assets for sale followed by rehabilitation of the mining sites.

Minister Moagi further said government had decided to accommodate former BCL employees for another year ending March 2022 at a cost of P2.3 million per month for the 1187 houses.

He said the decision to pay rent for the former mine employees was made to cushion them against the negative impact of closure of the mines.

Further, it was to give families time to make alternate arrangements for accommodation and also to reduce the risk of vandalism if the houses were left vacant.

Another reason was to avert potential mass exodus from Selebi Phikwe which could paralyse the economy of the town. Minister Moagi explained that the arrangement had been extended five times.

He said government noted several concerns or risks associated with eviction of former employees from the houses, amongst them homelessness and increased poverty.

The minister explained that under the current arrangement, former employees were allowed to work for different organisations while staying rent free.

He said if tenants were required to vacate the properties, it would lead to a mass movement of people and hence risk the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Moagi said the liquidator was already dealing with cases of vandalism on the vacated properties and this would be an additional cost to government and loss of value to the government and the estate.

He said during the next 12 months, it was anticipated that the liquidation process would be advance to a stage where PNR would complete their assessment and finalise the transaction if interestedENDS