The Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) has accused Meropa Resources of abandoning workers at Masama Coal Mine after curtailing operations and refusing to pay outstanding salaries and terminal benefits dating back to August 2025 even as the company secures new mining work at MMG Khoemacau.
In a statement, BMWU said Meropa Resources, a subcontractor to Minergy Coal Limited at Masama, stopped operations on February 14, 2025, and has since failed to honour its contractual and legal obligations to employees.
BMWU General Secretary Mbiganyi Gaekgotswe said the company’s conduct amounted to a clear breach of Botswana’s labour laws.
“Meropa Resources has effectively rejected its responsibility and legal duty to pay its employees under their employment contracts,” Gaekgotswe said. “Workers have been left stranded without salaries from August 2025 to date, and without their terminal benefits, despite the law being very clear on the obligations of an employer.”
Gaekgotswe said Meropa failed to lawfully terminate employment contracts or follow procedures set out under Section 25 of the Employment Act, which governs termination due to operational requirements.
“It is shocking that a company which has not paid its workers or terminated their contracts is being allowed to move on to another major mining project,” Gaekgotswe said. “This is a serious reputational and operational risk for any principal contractor.”
“The failure to follow lawful termination procedures means the obligation to pay wages remains in force,” he said. “In Botswana labour law, provision of work is the sole duty of the employer. An employee cannot be punished with non-payment of wages simply because the employer failed to provide work.”
The union expressed outrage that Meropa Resources has since been awarded another mining tender at MMG Khoemacau Copper Mine and is reportedly recruiting new employees, despite unresolved labour disputes at Masama.
“It is shocking that a company which has not paid its workers or terminated their contracts is being allowed to move on to another major mining project,” Gaekgotswe said. “This is a serious reputational and operational risk for any principal contractor.”
BMWU also referenced remarks made recently by Minister of Minerals and Energy Bogolo Kenewendo at the MMG Khoemacau mine expansion groundbreaking ceremony, where she emphasised the need to strengthen labour law compliance across mining supply chains and protect workers employed by subcontractors.
“In light of the Minister’s warning, it would be highly irregular and unlawful for Meropa Resources to be engaged at Khoemacau while it has unresolved labour compliance issues at Masama,” Gaekgotswe said, adding that the amended Mines and Minerals Act requires stricter scrutiny of contractors’ labour practices.
The union has called on MMG Khoemacau to immediately refuse to contract Meropa Resources, and for Meropa’s mining tenders and licences to be suspended until all outstanding wages and terminal benefits are paid.
BMWU further urged government to tighten oversight of subcontractors in the mining sector and called on the Ministry of Minerals and Energy to “admit its failures” in regulating labour compliance within mining supply chains.
“Our members cannot continue to be treated as disposable,” Gaekgotswe said. “The law must be enforced, and workers’ rights must come before profits.”
