Phikwe: A town staring into the deep
Correspondent | Friday October 21, 2016 17:45
The mine is home to 4,000 employees who now face the harsh reality of being released into an economy that is already battling with high levels of unemployment. To a national audience, the story has mainly focused on the broader players in the mine’s looming closure. It is easy to get lost in the tumult and miss the fact that life as it is known for the men and women of BCL is about to change, most likely for the worst.
Stanley Kemoitse is now a ‘former underground miner at Shaft 2’. This is a man whose life changed for the better when he started working for BCL. A man whose story is similar to so many others in his position. He is now afraid of what the future holds for him and the family he supports.
Around mid-day we drive across town to an area known as ‘Di-Stance,’ to interview Kemoitse at the rented home he shares with another miner. We pass through a number of full depots and bars and it suddenly feels like pay weekend. There is a lot of testosterone in the air!
According to Kemoitse, a majority of the men and women that used to work for BCL have now resorted to binge drinking during the day to pass time since they were advised not to leave Selebi-Phikwe until the liquidator has released his findings.
The reality on the ground is unforgiving to men like 32-year-old Kemoitse, who is wracked by thoughts of a dreary future. He has no idea what the future holds for him and his family. He woke up last Saturday morning to get to work as usual, his routine for the past five years, only to find the gates closed. This was the day he and his colleagues found out that the company they worked for was no more.
“Our bus is usually the last one at the gate and when we tried to clock in, we found the gates closed. We were told to go back home and that a meeting would be held to explain what was happening,” he said .
Like many others in his line of work, Kemoitse is a breadwinner in his family. His parents and children stay in his home village, Kalamare, a rural area that is a stone’s throw away from Mahalapye.
Nothing could have prepared him for the news he received that Saturday. In fact the whole situation does not feel real to him. He knows of colleagues who are currently under a veil of manic depression because life as they know it, is about to change.
BCL mine employed people from across Botswana, even from places as far as Gantsi and Kanye as well as a large number of residents from villages surrounding Phikwe such as Sefophe, Bobonong and Gobojango.
“I have no idea what will become of me. I am a man and my duty is to provide for my family. We are going to suffer! I did not go to university and my qualifications are limited to underground mining of copper. I know nothing else but this. I don’t even know how I will get my furniture to Kalamare. I will have to auction a measure of the things I own,” said Kemoitse..
Not only is he worried about the bank repossessing his car, he is afraid of getting locked up because he will not be able to afford paying off his bank loans. He says workers do not believe that they will get compensation for their leave days and bonus payments.
Later that day, we join thousands of the townfolk as they gather at the freedom square for a rally called by the leaders of the country’s main opposition parties.
Dumelang Saleshando of the BCP is well-known to the people of Phikwe as his father Gilson Saleshando was an area MP for the longest time. Alongside him is the soft spoken Ndaba Gaolathe of the BMD and Leader of the Opposition, Duma Boko, who is also president of the BNF.
The mood is sombre but the mutual theme is to comfort the people of Phikwe and to listen to their frustrations. Known for their charisma and easy-going nature, the three leaders try and crack a few jokes to lighten the mood of the crowd.
The mineworkers’ union president, Jack Tlhagale, is however not in a joking mood. He furiously tells the crowd that the union does not believe anything the government tells them anymore.
Tlhagale narrates what he says are discrepancies between what government Ministers and the Vice President told them.
“At first, workers were told that they would receive their salaries for the next 12-18 months and two days later the Vice President told them they would only be paid for the month of October.
“This is the same VP who swore barely six months earlier that BCL would never shut down.
“What is happening at BCL is a clear case of mismanagement. The union tried to inform the government of this for many years and now the same government is asking us to wait for the liquidator’s assessment to know if workers will be paid after October and if they will get their benefits.
“Liquidation has no money. We must protest against the mine’s closure. We believe that BCL is still profitable and it can still continue with operations.”
Gaolathe urged workers to avoid disillusionment and said they must familiarise themselves with the Companies Act which governs liquidation. He told them that liquidation laws clearly state that workers cannot receive more than four months of salary payments ‘if they are lucky’. Ever the optimist, he wanted Phikwe to be ready for the worst but believes in the people’s ability to bring their town back to life.
For his part Saleshando said the opposition has lawyers in its midst who are willing to volunteer their services to help the union map the way forward. He said Batswana needed to stop fearing their government and blindly accepting authority without question.“The opposition is waiting for Parliament to open on the 26th so we bring forward a motion for the Botswana government to come up with a rescue package for the Phikwe economy.
“Batswana must wake up to the reality that the economy will be greatly affected by what’s happening in Phikwe.
Schools, banks, insurance companies, private sector, SMMEs will all be affected. No one will be left unscathed. That is the harsh reality of shutting down the mine,” he added.
KAGISO MADIBANA*
*Madibana is a lecturer, researcher and journalist