Africa-Press – Botswana. The Ministry of Minerals and Energy recently announced that Masama Coal Mine’s debt has been converted into a public debt in order to ensure payment of the workers’ four months’ salary arrears
Despite the government’s intervention to address the salary crisis at Masama Coal Mine, the situation of severe financial distress there remains dire because the workers have been reduced to beggars and struggle to provide for their families, the MP for Tswapong South, Dr Kesetegile Gobotswang, has said.
However, the Ministry of Minerals and Energy recently said it will ensure that the workers receive their four months’ salary arrears and has converted their employer’s debt into a public debt. The workers have been assured that they will receive their salaries this week.
Suffering
In a statement released last week, Gobotswang said while government efforts to resolve the impasse are welcome, the delay in relief reaching workers has worsened their suffering and that many are now camping in the bush just outside the mine premises.
He called for urgent and sustainable measures to safeguard workers in general from similar distress in the future. “Workers at Masama Coal Mine… have been camping in the bush just outside the Mine premises under inhumane conditions,” said Gobotswang.
He added that if Masama Coal Mine was state-owned, it would have undergone a forensic audit to determine the root causes of its financial problems.
Forensic audit
“Meropa Resources, which is contracted by Minergy, failed to pay employees because Minergy defaulted on payments,” Gobotswang said. “If Masama Coal Mine was a state-owned entity it could be a candidate for a forensic audit.”
The Masama Coal Mine salary crisis has sparked widespread concern, with trade unions and civil society organisations calling for stronger oversight in the mining sector.
The Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) has reiterated calls for more sustainable measures to ensure that employees are not subjected to similar hardship in the future.
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