Khoemacau takes BMWU head on
Mpho Mokwape | Monday October 23, 2023 06:00
The copper miner that has acknowledged the existence of BMWU said it is committed to working with the union as one of its key stakeholders to achieve very high safety and health standards and very high labour productivity levels for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Khoemacau, through its stakeholder engagement, sustainability and compliance executive director, Boikobo Paya when responding to the union allegations made it clear that the mine will not deal with the union’s extensive attacks on the Botswana government and their allegations about the industry in general but focus on Khoemacau.
He explained that the suggestions of collusion between government and mining companies was without merit and threaten to undermine Botswana’s globally respected position as a top tier mining investment destination. “We won’t deal with the union’s extensive attacks on the Botswana government and their allegations about the industry generally. The suggestions of collusion between government and mining companies is without merit and threatens to undermine Botswana’s globally respected position as a top tier mining investment destination,” said Paya.
Allegations of systematic racism
Khoemacau management bluntly denied the allegations pointing out that there was absolutely no place nor tolerance for racism or discrimination of any form in their business and it was well documented in the code of conduct. He explained that all members of the team are bound by the code of conduct, which they take with the utmost seriousness, as they strive to ensure a fair, transparent and safe working environment for all, free from any prejudice. “We disagree with the assertion that there have been numerous incidents of racism.
We note that channels exist in the organisation to share any concerns in this regard, with due anonymity as needed and that to date, no such grievances have been raised,” he said. Paya stated that the well-known and respected tip-offs anonymous/whistle blower system was administered and run by the reputable company Deloitte, whose work in this regard is used and respected by employees of a wide range of companies within Botswana and around the world. He emphasised that whistle blowing platforms such as tip-off anonymous, also known as Shebetha, which are utilised and are fully functional at Khoemacau, are there for employees or any of their stakeholders to report or share any concerns they may have and that they may do so anonymously if they wish.
Influx of white expatriates, preferential treatment, salary disparity
Khoemacau said the mine only brings in internationals for positions where all efforts to identify suitable nationals have not been successful and that it has been necessary largely only in respect of their new underground mine, which deploys high levels of mechanisation and a mining method not undertaken in Botswana to date. “In other departments very few internationals are engaged. We bring to this country highly skilled and competent operators with years of mechanised mining experience.
They are here not only to enhance productivity but also to impart the necessary skills required by Batswana to operate in our new modern underground mechanised mine safely and productively,” Paya noted. He explained that Khoemacau has skills transfer and capacity building high on the agenda and that they have an understudy strategy and programme, which forms part of their localisation and skills transfer strategy aimed at training and developing citizen talent in preparation for them to assume responsibility for the roles currently held by international employees.
Paya said contrary to allegations of preferential treatment and abuse to black employees, the mine was proud of their citizen employees who over a short period of time, since commencement of their operations, have already mastered skills to take over a significant part of specific functions which were first performed by internationals.
Moreover, he pointed out that the majority of the senior mine site leadership team are Batswana as over the years the company has employed Batswana in senior positions wherever possible, giving example that in the mining, and mining technical services departments where the company employs the most internationals, Khoemacau has most of the senior roles filled by Batswana. “It is important to note that these positions were historically held by expatriates because of the technical nature of the roles and challenges in finding the skills specific to underground fully mechanised operations in the local market. That situation has changed and continues changing.
“A further example of the company maximising the employment of Batswana is the Processing Department where the entire operations team is Batswana while three internationals are employed in specialist technical and support roles. Our total workforce, including our business partners, consists of 89% nationals whilst 96% of Khoemacau’s direct employees are citizens,” explained the mine management. Paya further emphasised that Khoemacau has the same working conditions and requirements for everyone performing a similar task, that both white employees and their citizen counterparts work under the same working conditions and that there was no preferential treatment for either group as alleged by the union. He said some of the issues that have been raised by the union in their argument for preferential treatment especially about accommodation and salary disparity were that with accommodation, Khoemacau operates three camps; Zone 5 for the mining team, Tudika and Toteng camps for the processing plant and administration teams; that their employees are accommodated at respective camps based on the proximity to their working areas, regardless of nationality or race. Paya said that the only differentiation is that the level of accommodation is based on seniority only, in which case most of the senior roles within Khoemacau are occupied by Batswana and that following engagement with employees and the union, additional accommodation was recently made available at the Toteng village for residents of Tudika. On salary disparity where the union alleged that white employees are paid by US dollars and high salary rates compared to the black employees, Paya said internationals come from competitive wage markets, and therefore, their remuneration needs to align to those markets, otherwise they will not be able to attract them to skill up and train Batswana.
He said the public should bear in mind that they are only employed when local people with the necessary skills are unavailable, that as the mine they prefer, wherever possible, to employ Batswana, and will continue to pursue that. “Khoemacau Copper Mining has a fully-fledged remuneration policy in place. Our goal is to ensure that all employees, regardless of their background or nationality, are fairly compensated for their work and experience,” he said. On safety, Paya pointed out that Khoemacau’s commitment to safety at the mine was top of priority and the promise is that, “everyone is going home safe and healthy everyday” and that they prioritise the health and safety of the employees above all else.
He said Khoemacau is committed to Botswana, that they have invested more than P10 billion in Botswana, which stretched from exploration, discovery, construction, production ramp up and now the operation of their mine to produce c60Kt of copper per annum average over LOM, during this first phase of the project. “Currently, Khoemacau and our business partners employ over 1,650 people. In the next phase, we anticipate investing similar amounts if not more and to safely increase our copper production to +130Kt per annum on average and increase the number of employees to over 2,500. We abide by Botswana laws and we are committed to working with BMWU as one of our key stakeholders to achieve a very high safety and health standards and very high labour productivity levels for the benefit of all stakeholders,”
Mine, BMWU relationship
Lastly Paya noted that Khoemacau and BMWU relationship was recognised by Khoemacau since December 2021, that Khoemacau signed a Memorandum of Agreement in August 2023, wage negotiation agreement in March 2023, and a separation agreement also in August 2023 and view the union as their strategic business partner and that as a company they value the relationship. He said they have open communication channels with the union both at branch level, operations consultative committee, joint national consultation committee, national executive committee and executive management including CEO level where they continuously meet with them to discuss issues, many of which have been resolved. “We have enjoyed a cordial working relationship with BMWU, and Khoemacau has always been open to two-way dialogue on any issues that have been raised. While we respect BMWU’s decision to petition the ministry on Khoemacau issues and address the media through a press conference, we believe the best approach would have been to use the existing structures, which have achieved a lot for the two parties to date. We value very much our working relationship with BMWU and will continue to engage to address issues raised in the petition, press conference and any other emerging concerns,” Paya concluded.