05 Dec 2023

A total of 30 companies in and around Francistown  have submitted notifications of intention to retrench in terms of Section 25 of the Employment Act From October 2021 to October 2023.

The Minister of Labour and Homes Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi said this when answering a question in Parliament on Monday.

She said in relation to business closures, one company tendered notification of closure for the same period.

In addition, she said from the number of notifications, a total of 10 workers lost their jobs due to the closure of one company as indicated.

Minister Mokgethi noted that the statistics provided only reflect the redundancy information or job losses submitted to the Commissioner of Labour by companies after completion of their retrenchment process.

With regards to the opening and commencement of the Selkirk mine, the minister said the information she got from the Ministry of Minerals and Energy is that the mine was likely to start operating beginning of 2026.

The Member of Parliament for Francistown South, Mr Winter Mmolotsi had asked the minister to state how many businesses in and around Francistown closed shop in the last two years.

 He had also asked how many Batswana lost their jobs in the process, and when the Selkirk mine was likely to start operations. Ends