27 Jul 2022

Government should pay Batswana who worked in South African mines monthly allowances in recognition of their contribution to economic growth. 

 

Botswana Labour Migrants Association (BOLAMA)’s executive director Ms Naledi Monnakgosi said when presenting the association’s  proposals to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution on Tuesday that prior to the discovery of diamonds in Botswana, many citizens relied on South African mines for jobs, and the income they earned was the bedrock of the means of survival of many families. 

 

For this same reason, Ms Monnakgosi said government must pay the ex-miners or their families monthly allowances in the same manner as was the case with World War II veterans. 

“Batswana who were working in South African mines played a pivotal role in bringing income into the country; as such we believe that the government should consider paying allowances to ex-miners or families of ex-miners who worked in South African mines,” she said. 

 

On the bulk of the ex-miners having contracted either tuberculosis (TB) or silicosis, a lung-disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust over a long period of time, the BOLAMA head said such individuals should receive compensation from government. 

 

She further appealed for primary hospitals across the country to be equipped with TB machinery to complement Molepolole’s Boswelakoko clinic, the sole facility that she said had the requisite machinery for the diagnosis of the ex-miners conditions. 

“We urge our government to equip primary hospitals across the country with TB/Silicosis testing machinery. We have only one clinic that specialises in testing TB/Silicosis and this is really a problem because most ex-miners travel long distances to access the service,” she explained. ends