Council inundated with pleas for help from retrenched BCL miners

Olefile Serokolo | Tuesday November 28, 2017 16:56

 

The closure of BCL Mine last year saw over 4,000 miners losing their jobs with many other related industries here collapsing.

Letlhogela told an ordinary full council meeting that the retrenched miners have of recent been approaching the SPTC to assist with school uniform for their children, transport fare and food basket to sustain their families, amongst other appeals.

She said before the closure of the Mine in October 2016, there were two destitute persons and five needy students in the BCL area. “Currently, as at November 2017, the numbers have increased to 12 destitute adults and 67 needy students. We anticipate that the number will grow in the near future owing to current economic dynamics in the town,” she said.

She said the council continued to provide psycho-social support to individuals and families who regularly approached the SPTC with a myriad of social problems.

During sessions with social workers, it surfaced that former BCL employees awee not yet ready to relocate to their original homes, she said. On other keys issues, Letlhogela expressed delight at the improved working relationship between the council and SPEDU which she said was yielding positive results.  She said on July 12 a stakeholder meeting was convened where SPEDU briefed the town leadership on information sharing, clarifying roles and how all stakeholders can work together with SPEDU towards the revitalisation of the town. Letlhogela said on November 15, another meeting was held to further accord the stakeholders the platform to collaborate on issues of common interest regarding the SPEDU region.

She added that SPEDU was currently involved in 14 business projects of which nine were spearheaded by citizens. The projects cover ed areas such as information technology, manufacturing and agriculture.

The 14 companies are still setting up and are expected to be fully operational soon. In total, these companies are expected to invest approximately P227million of which P17.5 million will be financed through Citizen Entreprenurial Development Agency and other funding entities, while the rest is own investment.

Targeted employment creation is anticipated to be 1, 560 jobs in 12 months, 2, 480 jobs in the next 24 months and 5, 800 jobs in 36 months.

oloi was further remanded in custody and is due in court on December 11.