Mineworkers feel forgotten as energy transition picks pace
Mbongeni Mguni | Monday January 23, 2023 06:00
One of the reasons many politicians in Africa are resisting a fast-tracked transition from fossil fuels is because of the impact this will have on jobs and the associated social welfare, community economy and indicators such as poverty, disease, crime and others.
South African energy minister, Gwede Mantashe, has earned a nickname of being “the defender of coal” for his apparent reluctance to let go of the dirty fuel and fast-track the adoption of renewable energy in Africa’s most industrialised nation.
“Someone came to me and said renewable energy will create 330,000 jobs in South Africa and I said ‘give me the formula’ looking at the 90,000 jobs we have in coal,” Mantashe told last year’s Africa Energy Indaba.
“I have not found that formula.
“I grew up in the Eastern Cape and I recently took a drive to a wind farm and found that it had five people working there permanently.
“This is an argument against distorting information to convince everyone else.”
South Africa’s notoriously militant unions have long drawn a line in the sand that they will not be steamrolled over by the energy transition and have been putting pressure on politicians via their tripartite structures with the ruling party.
With 90,000 jobs in coal alone and many more in the downstream, most of these occupied by historically disadvantaged and semi-skilled black Africans, Mantashe and his fellow politicians are walking a sensitive tightrope.
At home, however, workers in the mining and energy sector are increasingly concerned about their future in government’s plans to have renewables accounting for at least 30% of national electricity generation in the next seven years, from nearly zero at present. Under the fast-tracked Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), government has already shortlisted four firms for a 200MW Concentrated Solar Power plant, while one half of a 100MW solar photovoltaic allocation was contracted out last year.
Several contracts have also been handed out for mini-solar power plants, while plans for wind and biodiesel are equally being advanced.
The Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) recently called a dialogue on the energy transition featuring both miners and workers in the local energy sector as well as their counterparts from regional neighbours such as South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Unlike the 90,000-strong coal mining jobs in South Africa, Botswana’s numbers are far smaller. However, mining and its downstream industries are highly consequential in terms of overall labour figures in the country and the impact on broader livelihoods.
According to its last available annual report, the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) had 1,870 workers, with the bulk, or 81%, employed in generation, distribution and transmission.
The Corporation operates the country’s two coal fired power stations, using rocks supplied by Morupule Coal Mine (MCM), which in turn employed 718 as at December 2021.
While both the BPC and MCM are wholly government owned assets, they are required to operate as going concerns. The Mine is a fully commercial entity operating under the Companies Act.
“There’s a real potential of stranded workers and communities because up to 15% of the population is dependent on jobs in the mining sector,” said Simon Mbangiwa, senior plant engineer at BPC.
“Mining also contributes to other sectors such as transport.
“Cutting back on the use of coal will severely impact employment and communities, but a transparent and just transition will help.”
He added: “The increase in renewable energy will generate jobs and may partially substitute for coal jobs, but it’s not certain that the new jobs will directly benefit those coming from coal.
“We however do expect an increase in the jobs rolled out to transmission and distribution.”
Experts agree that more data is required to help mineworkers and their counterparts engage the tripartite on the energy transition.
“Are we likely to experience job losses?
“There’s a consistent story that says both ‘yes and no,’” Institute of Development Management country director, Theophilus Mooko told a recent dialogue of regional mining and energy workers called by the BMWU.
He continued: “There are sectors where jobs will disappear and there are others where new jobs will emerge and it’s important that the labour tripartite must be able to speak clearly on this.
“Are you able to scan and see that these are the jobs that will be lost and these are the ones that will be created?
“In Botswana do we know which jobs are threatened and which ones will emerge?
“From mining to agriculture, we should be able to locate ourselves as a country on jobs.”
The tripartite Mooko cited refers to the informal arrangement amongst government, workers and employers in sectors such as mining.
The BMWU has frequently complained that the arrangement is favouring employers both in terms of existing legislation and also in terms of decisions taken by government where workers’ welfare appears to be an after-thought.
Citing examples such as the firing of more than 400 workers by Debswana in 2004 for engaging in an illegal strike and the subsequent axing of another 4,000-plus via the liquidation of BCL Limited in 2016, mineworkers have little faith in the tripartite. Instead, the belief amongst unionists is that their welfare and concerns are frequently sacrificed by government on the altar of investor attraction.
For workers, evidence of their importance in the tripartite can be seen in that the Climate Change policy passed by Parliament in 2021 overlooks their concerns or role. The policy, first conceptualised in 2016, is now government’s primary instrument for addressing the energy transition.
According to Mooko, the tripartite plays an important role in preparing workers for the energy transition.
“The tripartite should look at the re-skilling of people,” he said.
“You cannot just go to the workshop and say ‘you used to service vehicles that were fossil-fuel powered and now they are electric meaning your job is finished’.
“We have to know what skills and standards are required by the just transition.”
Help for the workers has started arriving, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) initiating a programme to capacitate local workers in the energy transition.
Already, the ILO has held capacity-development engagements with the country’s two major labour federations, Business Botswana as well as the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs.
More capacity building activities are scheduled for later this year, including the development of a policy position paper by worker organisations with the ILO’s help.
“In our situational analysis, we realised that labour was missing in the policies at the environment ministry around the just transition,” the ILO’s national project coordinator, Onneetse K. Makhumalo said.
Government, meanwhile, says not all is lost for workers looking for a space at the table in the debate on the energy transition. According to acting Environment permanent secretary, Masego Mooketsi, Botswana has not yet developed its national adaptation plan, which will detail the country’s climate change interventions across the sectors.
“With these discussions with the workers, we will be able to come up with a very robust adaptation plan,” she said.
The first test of the tripartite’s commitment to bringing workers on board is expected later this year, as Botswana prepares for the United Nation’s climate change conference in the United Arab Emirates.
The country is expected to report on the progress of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which are the pledges and promises each United Nations member has made on meeting globally agreed climate change goals.
Botswana first submitted its NDC in 2016 and has since stepped up efforts to revise it.
Workers, who have their hands on the levers of mineral and energy production, will be key to updating information for the world stage.