It was at this meeting that Debswana management, led by Jwaneng Mine Manager Balisi Bonyongo, that the Union learnt for the first time about the company's intentions.
BMWU secretary general Jack Tlhagale said on Saturday that they were informed that Damtshaa mine, and Letlhakane DK 1 mines, which employ 722 workers, along with Orapa Mine.

No.2 mine, which employs 300 miners, would both close for 12 months, although the Orapa No.2 plant is scheduled for closure four months into the new year.
Orapa and Letlhakane mines; Dk1, Damtshaa, Orapa, no.1 and Orapa, No.2 all employ 3,500 workers. The lucrative Jwaneng Mine, which produces rare diamonds, along with Orapa.No.1, will remain unaffected.

The union says although the Mine Management at the JCC meeting said they are willing to discuss the matter, they have also stated that they will not back down from closing the mines.

In a press release, Debswana states that they will shut down their production from December 16 to January 2, 2009. But last week, Debswana spokesperson Esther Kanaimba denied that they were about to close Damtshaa and Letlhakane mines in a previous interview with Monotor.

"We were nearly taken by Business. What it meant is that the workers who go on leave on December 16, will have gone forever without pay for the whole of 2009, and perhaps, forever", Tlhagale said.

" They did not make any arrangement about the future of the workers. What they simply did was to grant the workers forced leave, which was supposed to be effective this Monday (December 15, 2009)."

Tlhagale says the union, which is scheduled to have a peaceful demonstration at all Debswana branches tomorrow, is worried that nothing has been discussed with the workers despite the fact that Debswana want them to go on unpaid leave for the whole year.

Tlhagale says the union is surprised that the company is announcing a shut down without discussing its problems first with the government, the main shareholder in Debswana. " When we interviewed the Mine management, it became clear that the Government has not been consulted.

"How can they say they do not have funds when they did not discuss the problem with the shareholders? "They cannot just decide as general managers to shut down the mines without consulting shareholders," Tlhagale said.

The BMWU secretary general says his organisation is of the view that Debswana has enough in their reserves to cushion them during the ongoing global economic crunch.
" They claim they do not have money in the reserves.

We are saying Debswana is not bankrupt, and so there should not be any job cuts," he added. Debswana spokesperson Esther Kanaimba on Saturday would not comment, saying management would issue a statement later this week.