There are reports that Government is seriously considering closing down the BCL mine in Selibe Phikwe.
If that happens, that will be a human tragedy.
To be fair to Government, copper and nickel, like all commodity prices have collapsed badly.
And events that are playing out on the global stage are not making it any easy to predict with any certainty when the turnaround can be expected.
China, for a long time consumer of copper and nickel is going through its own economic readjustments.
Not only has the economy of that country slowed down, it is also exhibiting a kind of volatility that if not addressed could threaten the still soft recovery of the global economy, thereby taking down with it the entire world.
But that still does not address the issue of BCL.
To many people in Selibe Phikwe, and indeed across the country, BCL is much more than just a business.
In addition to the mine’s cold commercial imperatives, the mine is to many people also a source of life.
It might now sound like a clich├® but it remains true to this day that without BCL, Selibe Phikwe would immediately descend into a ghost town.
Getting it back to life might prove not just hard but impossible.
For the town to diversify, it will need the economic support of the BCL mine. No serious investor would consider putting their money into Selibe Phikwe unless they are confident that BCL mine will be alive for a long time.
Government has come out to say a sub-committee of cabinet has been set up to evaluate the prospects of BCL.
That might be a good thing.
But the uncertainty that such a decision induces, especially if it is not transparently and honestly communicated to the public is in our opinion mightily counterproductive.
The BCL closure, God forbid might precipitate the kind of shocks that might prove too much for the country’s economy to absorb.
Last month the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change said they feared the closure of BCL might precipitate not just a wave of unemployment that is already too high, but also a sharp descent into recession.
Our view is that they had a point.
Just a month down the line, it is becoming increasingly clear that closure of BCL is for some people a consideration that is on the cards.
If that comes to pass it would prove to be a human induced catastrophe.
We hope our leaders will be clear sighted enough to see that closing a mine like BCL is not just an economic decision, but a social one as well.
The closure of BCL will have wider consequences beyond just Selibe Phikwe.
The country’s business confidence will most certainly take a knock.
And as we say unemployment is already at unsustainable levels.
Adding about 5000 more people into it might prove an inferno.
We hope we will never come to that stage.
