He was deliberating at last week’s Mining Indaba in South Africa, under the topic, “For the people and prosperity-making beneficiation work for all”. “Mineral beneficiation policies are visible at the national level and not at the grass roots workplace and community level. Mining, especially diamond mining, is an expensive undertaking. “It is capital intensive and the economic conditions do not support indigenous Batswana participating in the industry. Market access of these luxury goods is difficult, and reliance is therefore placed on De Beers to support beneficiation, which undermines the intent of the beneficiation,” Phiri said. He added that the conditions do not permit workers and communities to benefit directly from beneficiation.
For instance, Phiri said BMWU has proposed initiatives such as Employee Share Ownership Programmes to enable workers to have a share of the mines through trusts. However, he said industry and government has been averse to exploring this option. “The conclusion therefore has been that the benefits of beneficiation to be realised in Botswana, should trickle down to communities and workers,” he said. The Executive Secretary, however, said Botswana has done well in developing a solid mineral beneficiation policy in the mining industry. “This is because minerals are vested in the State and mining is developmental,” he stated. “However, this wasn’t always the case. Parliament, before 2008, was concerned about the risk the economy was exposed to due to its dependence on a single commodity. Given the cyclical and speculative nature of diamond sales and markets, beneficiation became an imperative,” he added. He explained that De Beers at the time was concerned about the push for beneficiation by Botswana, and how that would fit into their business model.
The turning point was in the year 2008, during the sales negotiations, where beneficiation was incorporated as a clause in the mining and sales agreement. “This gave way to the relocation of DTC from London to Botswana in 2013. Underscoring this move was the need to promote value-add and ensure maximum benefits in the midstream and downstream processes. “Equally important is the need to diversify and create spill-over industries, and to stimulate structural transformation through beneficiation by encouraging indigenous Batswana to take part in the mining sector,” said Phiri. When asked what role BMWU has played in the formulation of policy, Phiri said the role of the union in economic policy formulation is an important one. “Historically, trade unions have not been viewed as economic players, therefore their role has been marginalised.
Times are, however, changing as trade unions like BMWU are demanding a seat at the policy decision making table. “Trade unions demand proper consultation when economic policy decisions are made through recognised social dialogue mechanisms. The historical perceptions about trade unions being disruptors of progress no longer holds water,” he said.
