The inevitably eminent last rites are being performed by the liquidator Nigel Dickson, who has now declared our treasure trove in the final phase of death, just before rigor mortis. Warning bells about the approaching end of life of the resource, chimed distantly, hence, many treated them as a hoax, or decided to settle for Barry Manilow's "Living on Borrowed Times". Back in the years between 2005 and 2010, the town of Selebi-Phikwe, (affectionately called Zana or Bizola by some of us, its adherents, was very vibrant when the BCL Mine was economically stable. It was not only full of life with respect to the BCL Mine’s ability to sustain the local economy, Phikwe also had very radical and robust leadership led by Montwedi Mphathi as the BCL general manager and the Botswana Mine Workers Union which was headed by the likes of the late Golekanye Mogende, among others. The common names at the mine then besides Mphathi were likes of Gerry Ndlovu, Kavis Kario, Phumulani Vambu, Mack Zulu, Tshephang Mazwigwila, Gabriel Mompe and Mable Bolele among others.
This fostered lively dialogues and debate at which no decision ever went unscrutinised. It was during this period that the union’s national executive committee sent some branch committee members to prison, through the courts of law, for being in contempt of court when they declined to handover all union documents and funds to the national office. The branch, along with others, failed to deposit all the money they held in their own accounts and even failed to produce proof of expenditure. Mphathi would later re-employ those unionists from BCL upon completion of their prison terms. It was during this period that the likes of Mogende and the current Union president, Jack Tlhagale, bravely put their heads on the block and advocated for workers’ rights. The period was characterised by numerous legal battles between the Union and the Mine leadership, with both parties unyielding in their positions. During one particular skirmish, wage negotiations were suspended as a battle-within-a-battle ensued over how the Union had accessed confidential information it presented in the talks. BCL won this particular legal battle as the courts ruled that the information presented by the Union was not in the public domain. For the Union, Mphathi’s hand was a hard nut to crack. He took bold decisions and always defended them. He was viewed as unpredictable and very strict, but also demonstrated high levels of professionalism and was able to draw a firm line between personal and official business. Mphathi gained a reputation for his aversion to mediocrity as anecdotes abound about his axing workers in an instant, just like he was swatting a particularly annoying fly on his shirtsleeve. Mphathi was the kind of a manager who would tour the entire Mine intent to catch unawares those sleeping on the job. This improved levels of productivity as every employee was compelled to deliver their utmost best. The general manager created a lot of enemies because of his leadership style, but it paid off in making the company a sustainable mining operation, an achievement that was only appreciated by many when the mine’s performance dwindled after his departure. During his reign, Mphathi gained nationwide and regional infamy when he fired close to 200 machine men who downed tools in an illegal strike. He also boldly defended the employment of expatriates and maintained that BCL was ahead of its peers in localisation and actually had a low ratio of expatriates. Selebi-Phikwe in general was the epitome of vibrancy and during those hey-days, there was a lot of talk about Selebi-Phikwe becoming Botswana’s third city. The town had all the qualities that could qualify it for that status. BCL Mine’s replicas were a common sight as everyone had a T-shirt, cap or overall jacket bearing the logo.
