BCL employees speak
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Kegakologetswe
This has not only left them with a psychological distress but hopelessness of where their next meal would come from after they receive their last salaries at the end of this month. They have already received threats by commercial banks that failure to pay their outstanding loan balances would attract serious penalties. They are forced to terminate their insurance policies because they cannot honour subscriptions anymore and they are likely to relocate back home without anything in their hands because there is no guarantee that they will get anything after the liquidator concludes his investigations.
It is for the first time in the history of the mine that it reaches a point where employees are told to stay home and even denied access into the mine. The workers are now spending working hours at home and worry is written all over their faces as they contemplate the future.
That should concern every Motswana. The implications extend far beyond cattle and farmers. Botswana’s beef industry is a critical pillar of the economy, supporting thousands of households and sustaining businesses along the value chain.The loss of access to lucrative export markets has already demonstrated how quickly an animal-health crisis can become an economic crisis.This is, therefore, not the time for complacency, blame, or political...