Loss, worry, despair in Matsiloje
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday April 22, 2016 10:06
The effects of retrenchments can affect a person and his dependants for many years to come. For example, in Botswana, most people live in extended families and are expected to take care of the members as dictated by Setswana culture.
A person who was retrenched may be responsible for the upkeep of seven or more dependants.
This publication was greeted by a sense of loss and worry about financial insecurity, uncertainty and depression when it visited Matsiloje village recently. Mmegi also discovered that those who have not been retrenched are equally affected by the exercise that befell their colleagues recently.
Everyone is demoralised. A large number of workers who mined the soils at Tati Nickel Mining Company, were from Matsiloje.
In addition, Mmegi discovered that those who are still working are living on the edge because they are worried about when the ‘axe’ is going to fall on them, since there are reports that Tati Nickel Mining Company (TNMC) will also retrench some of its workers in the not so distant future.
Matsiloje villagers told this publication that most people who were retrenched used to work for Aveng Moolmans, which was contracted by TNMC to do mining activities on its behalf. In February, more than 500 of Moolmans’ workers lost their jobs after the company said it could not secure a renewal of its mining contract from TNMC.
TNMC had long been struggling to keep its operations afloat, but was hampered by declining commodity prices and poor grades at its ageing Phoenix mine.
A former load and haul worker at Aveng Moolmans, Mothusi Moatswi said life was now tough following his retrenchment.
He produced a letter written by Aveng Moolmans Mine human resources manager, Daniel Matlhodi.
The subject of the letter, dated February 29, 2016, read, “Retrenchment”.
Read part of the letter: “This serves to inform you that your position has become redundant and you shall therefore be retrenched with effect from 29 February, 2016”.
The ex-mineworker explained that he had been applying to other mines, but with no success.
“I have four children that I am taking care of. I started working for Moolmans in 2002 and I will have to find another job to feed my family. I have not lost hope of getting a new job, but the retrenchment has negatively affected me in many ways,” he said.
In the village of Matsiloje, which is usually sleepy during the week before reanimating at the weekend, a palpably sombre mood drifts.
Most of the youth in the village eke a living by working under the Ipelegeng programme and have never heard of the sections within the Mines and Minerals Act in their lifetime, which vests the state with powers to regulate all mines in the country.
Although it is clear that most people in Matsiloje do not know anything about the act and concede that there is nothing they can do to change it, they are of the view that mineral rights should rest on the shoulders of the tribes from which they are extracted, as obtains in South Africa.
Mmegi caught up with former Matsiloje councillor-cum-businessman, Simon Lephalo, at the offices of the Village Development Committee (VDC), which are situated within the main Kgotla.
Lephalo explained that most workers from Matsiloje and those who rented houses in the village were some of the life-blood of his business.
“Business is low. We pay licenses and employees, but we don’t get much in return. In the past business was good before these retrenchments affected mines in our area,” said a worried Lephalo, who added that his woes were further compounded by the Foot and Mouth Disease that led to culling of his cattle in the past.
Emily Segopa, VDC Secretary, echoed Lephalo’s words.
Segopa said the retrenchments at the mines had affected the business sector and villagers in equal measure.
According to her, some villagers are of the view that although the retrenchments may be justified, the mines around Matsiloje did not deliver the rosy picture many had anticipated when they opened in their village.
“They have done little to advance the development agenda of our village. They usually contribute nominally like when we host some functions in the village. Their support is little and only comes when we ask for it.
“Our village is one of the least developed in the country although it is situated on one of the richest grounds in the land. Meanwhile, some villages which do not have mines in their vicinity are way ahead of us in terms of developments,” she said with cynical disillusion.
Segopa, however, said they appreciate the assistance that they get from TNMC.
TNMC provides Matsiloje with a mobile ambulance and a doctor who consults patients every Thursday at the village clinic.
“Yes their contribution in that regard is welcome and commendable, but we need more,” said Segopa.
Although some villagers claim that the mines are not helping them, Mmegi discovered that TNMC through its corporate social responsibility initiative funded some people in the village to start businesses.
One such person is Gosegomang Seiphitlhile who was given material to open a leather and tannery business in 2007.
Seiphitlhile said her business took a nosedive due to social issues and is no longer operating. She is, however, thankful for what the mine did for her.
Seiphitlhile who now works for government under the Ipelegeng programme plans to resurrect her business once she acquires a commercial plot to operate from.
Tati East Member of Parliament, Samson Moyo Guma, under whom Matsiloje falls, said issues that deal with the development of all places in Botswana, Matsiloje included, are matters of the government and not of any mine.
Guma said mining houses that operate within or near some places in Botswana are not forced to develop those villages, but can contribute to their development if they so wish.
Guma added that mining is a business and all mining rights in Botswana are vested under the authority of government, which develops the country without taking into consideration whether some places are rich in mineral deposits or not.