The Botswana Mine Workers Union is preparing court action against Medupi Mining after talks and labour mediation failed to secure three months of outstanding salaries.
BONGANI MALUNGA
The three-month wage crisis at Medupi Mining is heading to court after repeated negotiations and labour mediation failed to unlock salaries owed to workers since July.
Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) president Joseph Tsimako says the union is finalising its case against the company, escalating a dispute that has left employees without pay for three consecutive months and facing the prospect of going through the end of September without salaries.
GOVERNMENT APPEAL
The development comes a week after affected workers appealed for government intervention, saying the prolonged non-payment had placed them under severe financial strain.
In an interview with The Botswana Gazette, Tsimako said Medupi Mining had acknowledged owing the workers but maintained during engagements with the union that financial difficulties had left it unable to settle the arrears.
“Medupi Mining employees have not been paid for three months. We have held talks with them and they have notified us that they are financially challenged. They are sub contracted by Debswana and engaged for drilling services but we are not privy to their arrangement. In the last two weeks they informed us that they are trying to sell off some of their equipment to fund the payments,” Tsimako told this publication.
NO BREAKTHROUGH
With negotiations failing to produce a breakthrough, BMWU subsequently referred the dispute to the Department of Labour. After exhausting the mediation process, Tsimako said the union was now turning to the courts as a last resort.
“We are on the cusp of registering the matter in court. We have already passed the mediation stage and we are finalising our statements as we chart a legal route,” Tsimako noted. The looming court battle intensifies a dispute that could become an important test of Botswana’s labour enforcement regime, particularly against employers who fail to pay workers their wages.
LABOUR TEST
The case also comes against the backdrop of government’s stated tougher position on labour violations and the implementation of the Employment and Labour Relations Act, 2025, which has sharpened scrutiny over whether strengthened labour protections will translate into timely relief for workers.
Tsimako asserted that for the Medupi employees, the dispute is no longer only about labour policy. Three months without salaries means mounting household bills, debts and other financial obligations while uncertainty continues over when or whether outstanding wages will be paid.
Contacted for comment, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Pius Mokgware said the dispute had not yet reached ministerial level. He indicated that he would comment further once he had been furnished with the full details of the matter.