1.0 Purpose
The purpose of this note is to update Parliament on the BCL Group liquidation and the leasing arrangement of houses in Selebi-Phikwe by the Government of Botswana for former employees of BCL Limited.
2.0 Update on Liquidation Processes
2.1 BCL Group of Companies, that is BCL Limited (Pty) Ltd (“BCL”), BCL Investments (Pty) Ltd (“BCLI”) and Tati Nickel Mining Company (“Tati”), were placed under provisional liquidation by the High Court of Botswana on 9th October 2016. All mining operations were put into care and maintenance on the 7th October 2016, immediately after the decision to liquidate the Mine was made. The decision to close the Mines was made after BCL’s financial challenges continued and a further P2 billion was requested from Government over and above the Barclays Bank loan advanced in March 2016. Government as a guarantor of the Barclays Bank loan settled it after the company was put into liquidation.