Business community rejects Govt. decision on BCL

The last couple of days have been sad moments not only for the BCL employees but also for the business community at large. The Selibe Phikwe business community on Wednesday expressed great disappointment at the decision by government to close down the BCL mine.

At a forum supposed to have been addressed by Vice President, Mokgweetsi Masisi but addressed by Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Advocate Sadique Kebonang at Selebi Hotel in Selibe Phikwe, the business community told Kebonang and his team of senior government officials that there is no point to address them as they had already made their decision to shut down the backbone of Selibe Phikwe economy. Andrew Frantzeskou, General Manager of Syringa Lodge who has been a resident of Phikwe for the past 43 years, said Phikwe will be nothing without BCL. “We survive by BCL. The economy of Phikwe should have been diversified many years ago. All the businesses here will be forced to lay off staff. What happens to our properties, where do we go?” he asked rhetorically.

One former BCL mine superintendent who identified himself only as Smith, and had worked for BCL for 16 years asked the government how it let the situation to get out of hand when they could see that the mine was not sustainable. He said if at all what the government is preaching that the mine has not been making profit for its entire 40 years, why did it allow it to get to this stage. According to Smith, BCL is currently besieged by a crisis of management. Kebonang assured the business community that the liquidator will go through all the processes to check if indeed there has been mismanagement at BCL. Some of the businesses that have been sub contracted to BCL are left wondering how they are going to approach their employees to tell them that BCL is no more, and that they no longer have jobs.

Kumbulane Mabena of the Business Community Association in the SPEDU region expressed that, “the process of getting SPEDU and it moving forward has been a very slow one”. SPEDU is the next government’s vehicle to turn around the Phikwe town.
Mabena added that decision-making at government level is very slow and SPEDU officials are always saying that they are constrained. “As we move forward together as stakeholders, the business community is willing to help with ideas. Let us not take the usual route that we have been taking in making decisions, we should involve one another,” Mabena pleaded with the minister.

A representative from Morula Private School, where some of the BCL employees have school children attending there at a subsidised fee, asked if the fees would be honoured going forward now that the company has shut down. “Without the BCL subsidy, our school will close down in January 2017.” In response, Kebonang said the school fees for this month would be paid. As for the coming periods, the liquidator is the one who will be handling every matter that concerns the creditors.

Other concerns raised were that the SPEDU Board of Directors does not have a representative from the Phikwe region. Kebonang responded, “I do not have an answer to that, but it makes sense to have someone who understands the region so well sitting on the Board.” On other issues, he also revealed that the government has decided that it will set aside P13million per month to continue running the shafts that cannot be shut down now. Employees have been allowed to remain in the BCL houses. On the 7th February 2017, Warren Dixon, the liquidator will submit a detailed report on his findings to the high court.