BPC arrears cost MCM contractor jobs – BMWU

Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday April 28, 2025 12:16

To the streets: BMWU members during a previous demonstration FILE PIC

The Union, in a statement this week, said workers at the BR-BB Joint Venture (Pty) Ltd, are owed over P9 million by MCM because the colliery in turn has not been paid for its supplies to the BPC. The Corporation has long term contracts for coal supply from MCM to run its Morupule A and B power stations, which are the country’s baseload power generation.

BMWU general secretary, Mbiganyi Gaekgotswe said on December 12, 2024, MCM terminated its service agreement with its subcontractor BR-BB Joint Venture, citing cash-flow challenges.

Before termination of the contract, he said BR-BB JV had raised concerns with MCM over its monthly payment defaults, which had culminated in the subcontractors’ inability to pay its workers.

“As of April 18, 2025, the amount owed workers by BR-BB JV is approximately over P9 million,” said Gaekgotswe. “MCM is yet to fulfill its termination obligations at the instance of BR-BB JV such that the subcontractor has failed to honour its employment obligations to employees in the form of terminal benefits. “MCM has deferred its responsibility for the settlement of this liability to Botswana Power Corporation.”

He further stated that on March 31, 2025, in her parliamentary brief on the power supply challenges in Botswana, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Bogolo Kenewendo, highlighted the operational and technical inefficiencies which have run the state-owned electricity utility into escalating debt.

“She pointed out to the impact which Morupule Coal Mine has felt from the non-payment of the huge sums of money amounting to over P700 million owed by BPC which have resulted in the non-production of coal at the mine and the intermittency of electricity generation at the BPC power plants,” he stated.

He further said that during a tripartite meeting between Morupule Coal Mine, BR-BB JV and the Union, it became apparent that the subcontractor will not get paid by MCM until BPC honours its payment obligations. This, he said essentially means workers will not get paid their terminal benefits until the inefficiencies at BPC are resolved.

“On the face of it, MCM is under no obligation to cause the payment of terminal benefits of workers who are in the supply chain, as they are not directly employed by it. “This situation is similar to that of Minergy Coal Mine and BCL, where a state-owned enterprise, due to mismanagement and inefficiencies, squandered its finances, got liquidated and the workers walked away empty-handed,” Gaekgotswe said.

The Union has called on government through the Ministry of Minerals and Energy, to request Cabinet to issue a directive for the settlement of BR-BB JV employees’ terminal benefits.

This, Gaekgotswe says, is because the inefficiencies at BPC are attributed to the government in terms of appointing the leadership of these state-owned entities and approving tenders awarded to companies responsible for managing the technical and maintenance operations of these facilities.

According to Gaekgotswe, BMWU finds itself yet again in the middle of another institutional tug of war, this time, between BPC, MCM, and BR-BB Joint Venture (Pty)Ltd, in respect of the non-payment of BR-BB JV employees' terminal benefits following its services contract termination by MCM.