BMWU troubled by impending job losses
Ryder Gabathuse | Wednesday April 27, 2022 11:42
CEEP is a concept that targets citizens and accords them an opportunity to access and derive advantage from the national economy.
Tsimako told a press conference at the President Hotel yesterday (Tuesday) that whilst CEEP on paper seems good, it had the unpalatable development of resultant job losses at the workplace.
The miners’ trade union is still reeling from the experiences of job losses at Majwe Mining, which was contracted at the Debswana Jwaneng Mine, where over 100 workers were rendered jobless.
Tsimako was addressing the presser together with the BMWU executive secretary, Kitso Phiri.
The trade unionist indicated that already they have been notified about the impending terminations of contracts of some service providers at the Debswana mines and others where a good number of their members will be duly laid off.
“CEEP is a welcome development as citizens will continue to be encouraged to partake in the running of the mining industry. Government should ensure that there is a smooth transition in the ownership of these mines and related businesses,” the BMWU president said.
Phiri added that with the impending implementation of CEEP, “We might see a spike in mental issues as it might result in job losses. When the BCL Group operations were closed in 2016, we also saw a spike in suicides and other unfortunate developments with some ex-miners hit by civil imprisonment for failing to pay their obligations.”
Phiri also highlighted some of the negatives of the job losses including health issues that emerged when medical aids were terminated when jobs ended.
“It’s worrying that our ardent appeals to have terminal dues paid to the ex-miners have not been heeded by the government to date, leaving the miners impoverished,” Phiri told the presser.
In his closing remarks, on a positive note, Tsimako indicated that whilst it was too early to rush to a conclusion, their ongoing communication with the director of Premium Nickel Resources Botswana, Montwedi Mphathi was promising that once they commence operation, they may consider re-employing some of the miners that lost their jobs at the now-closed BCL mine.