His answer was telling.
“It might happen,” he said at the time, “that some fellow citizens might say this is an opportunity to be promoted. But I can’t promote them if they are not competent…They are first and foremost, BCL employees, and my decisions will always be guided by what is best for BCL.”
Eighteen months into the job, Mphathi has proved that he is his own man – prepared to take unpopular decisions. He incurred the wrath of political parties when he asked BCL employees who aspire for political office to choose between the company and politics. He defied even President Festus Mogae, who pleaded with him to implement the new rule after the general elections. Those who felt a stronger affinity to politics resigned from their jobs. At the beginning of August, he suspended 13 union leaders for refusing to disclose how they got hold of information on the management’s earnings.
The 46-year-old Mphathi who holds an MSc (Industrial and Administration Sciences) from City University, London succeeded the former national chairman of the Botswana Mining Workers Union (BMWU), Elias Mbonini as general manager. Mbonini retired – after about 30 years of service – just as plans were being laid out for Mphathi to ascend to the chief executive’s office. Mbonini left with an unfulfilled dream.
“If I could,” says Mbonini, “I would have wished to stay longer just to see how he acquaints himself with the new job.”
For Mbonini and the union, localisation of the top most job in the mine signalled victory after a long battle.
“This standoff between the general manager and the union is disheartening,” says Mbonini. “It was the union that fought tooth and nail for localisation of the post of the general manager at BCL with the hope that workers would enjoy better working conditions at the mine.”
Mbonini has seen Mphathi rise through the ranks since he joined BCL as a trainee engineer. The man at loggerheads with the union is, ironically, one of the pioneers of the BCL mine senior citizen staff union.
“He was actually a co-founder of this union which was set up to deal with issues affecting the mine’s employees,” Mbonini recalls. “Through our efforts, we even had a joint localisation and training committee that comprised of the senior citizen management and the union.”
As his star rose, Mbonini recalls that the mine management tasked Mphathi with the responsibility of negotiating salaries with the union. “In 1999-2000, he led the BCL mine management negotiating team. He was a committed young fellow who was really promising to be a star in this field. He was very strong and full of energy,” says Mbonini.
The former union leader feels that Mphathi’s star is currently on the wane and he seems to be pursuing a wrong course. “This does not augur well for localisation”.
BMWU Selebi-Phikwe branch chairman Golekanye Mogende has no kind words to say about Mphathi.
“This man hates the union,” he says. “I think he wishes that the union did not exist.”
Mogende maintains that when the union landed on a document that detailed the salary structure of the senior mine management, it did so in good faith to enable the union to negotiate from an informed position.
Politicians brand Mphathi as “iron-handed”. Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) executive secretary Botsalo Ntuane says his party does not sympathise with Mphathi in the current standoff at the mine.
“The BDP has no sympathy with him since he did not listen to us recently when we pleaded with him to give politicians from across the political divide an extension to carry on with their political activity whilst at work until the polling day, and he was in no compromising mood,” says Ntuane.
The view of the BDP was that Mphathi should allow aspirants to contest for the elections and then give them a choice after the elections between continuing with their work or joining politics fulltime.
The leader of the Botswana National Front (BNF), Otsweletse Moupo and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) vice president, Gilson Saleshando, also expressed disappointment with Mphathi’s treatment of BCL employees who wish to pursue politics.
Among Mphathi’s allies is BCL’s human resources manager Mack Zulu. He describes his boss as a dedicated miner.
“He is a man on a mission to turn around the fortunes of BCL,” says Zulu. Without trying to blow his trumpet, this man is good at his job.”
Zulu says Mphathi is not scared to take unpopular decisions.
“He would not hesitate to tell you straight to your face if you have faulted. Whether you love him or hate him, he would take a decision that is in the interest of the company,” says Zulu.
“He is strict and only wants the job to be done; nothing else. His relationship with the workers is generally very good. He is actually a people’s man.”
Zulu says workers address Mphathi by his first name, and that he has an open door policy. “Anybody can just walk into his office with their problem. If it is something that he can attend to immediately, he would do so. He is not the kind to disappoint an employee.”
Mphathi is also described as a workaholic who goes to the office very early and leaves late at night.
Zulu denies that Mphathi hates the union. “What he wants is a vibrant union. His view is that the relationship between the management and the union should be founded on mutual trust,” he said. “Mphathi has put to rest the myth that no Motswana can be a successful general manager of the BCL mine.”
Thuso Dikgaka, the general manager of Tati Nickel Mine, has known Mphathi as a former classmate, roommate and work-mate.
“He is a good guy,” says Dikgaka.
Even Mphathi’s harshest critics agree on one point: that he is a mine boy who is at ease underground, doing what all miners are paid to do.
At that first interview, he was asked if he felt safe underground.
“Of course it is very safe,” he said. “Much safer than being on some of Botswana’s roads.”
