BCL a cautionary tale

From labour, to the financial services sector, to the Botswana Power Corporation, precious few sectors will escape the contagion effects coming out of Selebi-Phikwe from the collapse of its economic mainstay.

Thousands of miners face a bleak future, while their families, their creditors and others brace for the domino effect of a loss of formal employment. Selebi-Phikwe, with more than 50,000 residents, faces its long held spectre of becoming a ghost town. As the nation wipes its collective tears and braces for an uncertain future, it is appropriate to note that the closure of BCL Mine and the impact on Selebi-Phikwe will be replicated in several towns across the country in a few years to come.