03 Oct 2023

Independence Day celebrations have become extra special for residents of Selebi Phikwe, with the inclusion of Tsholofelo Carnival.

Now in its second year, the carnival spearheaded by Premiere Nickel Resources Botswana (PNRB) symbolises hope and trust that the residents have on PNRB to liven up the town after a catastrophe that befell the town in 2016 when BCL mine closed.

The celebrations started with a carnival march from Distance area to Sam Sono Stadium where the main activities of the day took place. “We thank PNRB for bringing a lot of vibrancy in our town and we appreciate a lot,” said the Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Beauty Manake during the Carnival celebration in Selebi Phikwe, Saturday.

Ms Manake said the event was in line with Mindset Change, priority number five of Reset Agenda that went with the slogan, A re chencheng.

Although PNRB has not fully started mining operations, its footprints are visible, particularly in the areas of entrepreneurship, sports, arts and culture in Selebi Phikwe. Prior to the carnival, the company ran some workshops to capacitate entrepreneurs and the informal sector to run viable and sustainable businesses even after the mine ceases operating.

The company also engaged the likes of Wilson Ngoni, a renowned artist to partner with other artists in Selebi Phikwe, to make murals around town to improve its aesthetic and serve as marketing tools.

Ms Manake explained that though the Independence Day was celebrated at the time the BCL ex-employees were faced with housing challenges, she pleaded with the community to be  calm since she had already engaged government concerning the matter.

As a result, she said that government had taken a decision to purchase the BCL houses, to enable them to re-consider packages that could facilitate former BCL employee to purchase the houses with ease.

Selebi Phikwe mayor, Mr Lucas Modimana said Independence Day was a time for the nation to reflect and find solutions to do better.

He challenged Selebi Phikwe community to always reflect on their actions and align whatever they did with the Transformational Agenda and Vision 2036.

Mr Modimana said more needed to be done to enable the country to compete globally, considering that countries that attained independence at the same time with Botswana were economically ahead

 The PNRB’s Environmental, Social and Governance, vice president,Ms Shamil Agosi urged the community and other stakeholders to work with PNRB since the carnival was for the benefit of entire community.

She said the company conducted a mapping exercise to understand the effects of the BCL mine closure on the community and had identified entrepreneurship, arts, sports and culture as sectors that needed to be revamped in order to achieve the government’s aspirations to resuscitate the economy of Selebi Phikwe.

Ms Agosi said the carnival initiative was a forum where all stakeholders were expected to participate in resuscitating of the economy of Selebi Phikwe, hence 200 entrepreneurs were trained with the assistance of Local Enterprise Authority, Botswana Tourism and other organisations.

MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse commended PNRB and other stakeholders for putting together an event that promoted social cohesion and unity among Batswana.

He said all, government inclusive should embrace the ‘A re chencheng’ slogan, to enable Botswana to achieve prosperity for all. Mr Keorapetse said the country was faced with high rate of unemployment with statistics showing that 35.4 per cent of Batswana were unemployed, poverty, and low wages and income disparity emphasising that the nation should reflect on this to change the status quo.

Furthermore, he said Gender Based Violence was also a serious problem that need all on board to address. ENDS