Orapa, Botswana – It’s a yr since Motshwegwa Rakhudu misplaced his job after 14 years working as an installer at Debswana diamond mining operations in northern Botswana. He says he had been on rolling three-year renewable contracts with Enabler Hires (Pty) Ltd, and anticipated the association would proceed by way of to 2027.
As an alternative, he was retrenched and made redundant with out warning.
“The shock was an excessive amount of,” Rakhudu, (not his actual title), instructed Al Jazeera.
“In early 2025, I took a mortgage of 26,000 pula (about $1,900) to purchase a automobile as a result of I believed my job was safe. By mid-Could, I used to be out of labor.” He stated the sudden retrenchment left him fighting debt and family duties, together with college charges, with no compensation obtained.
“Being caught unprepared has been very troublesome. Jobs are scarce, and even when work is on the market outdoors mining, the pay is far decrease. I’m nonetheless on the lookout for work,” he stated.
Rakhudu stated he has thought of farming or beginning a small enterprise, however lacks the capital. Promoting his automobile, he added, would solely cowl the excellent mortgage.
“I might wish to go into farming, but when I promote the automobile, the cash will solely clear the mortgage,” he stated.
Al Jazeera contacted Gaotlhobogwe Radikwata, a senior administration official at Enabler Hires (Pty) Ltd, for touch upon the retrenchments.
“I’m not going to reply your questions even should you persuade me you might be from Al Jazeera. Who gave you my quantity? I by no means shared my contacts with journalists. I’m not at liberty to share info,” she stated.
Jobs vanish as diamond manufacturing slows
The retrenchments come as Botswana’s diamond sector, the spine of its economic system, slows sharply.
Debswana Diamond Firm, a three way partnership between the federal government and De Beers, minimize manufacturing by about 27% in 2024 to 17.9 million carats amid weak world demand, and plans additional reductions to round 15 million carats in 2025. The corporate accounts for roughly 90% of Botswana’s diamond gross sales.
That slowdown has rippled by way of the broader economic system. Botswana’s output contracted by about 5.3% within the second quarter of 2025, the sharpest fall because the pandemic, pushed largely by declining diamond manufacturing, based on Reuters.
Diamonds account for round 70% of export earnings and roughly a 3rd of presidency income, based on Reuters and S&P World Rankings, which in 2025 downgraded Botswana’s sovereign credit standing to BBB-, citing sustained stress from the worldwide diamond downturn and weakening fiscal revenues.
Family stress builds throughout mining communities
For staff, the affect is now not summary.
“The diamond downturn is now not only a enterprise situation. It’s a human situation affecting staff, households, contractors and whole mining communities,” stated Mbiganyi Gaekgotswe, Basic Secretary of the Botswana Mineworkers Union.
He stated uncertainty now defines on a regular basis life.
“The primary query on everybody’s thoughts is whether or not they may nonetheless have a job subsequent yr,” he stated. “Will contracts be renewed? Will additional time be lowered? These are usually not summary considerations. They have an effect on college charges, loans, medical payments and household duties.”
Even the place jobs stay, stress is rising as wages stagnate whereas meals and transport prices enhance.
Past diamonds: trying to find new progress
Restructuring has already filtered by way of contractors and repair suppliers, with extra staff shifted onto short-term agreements, stated Dominic Obusitse Mapoka, Chairperson of the Botswana Diamond Employees Union.
“Employees who stay employed are more and more on short-term or non permanent contracts,” he instructed Al Jazeera. “This makes it troublesome for households to plan as a result of they have no idea whether or not contracts will probably be renewed.”
He stated many earn between $190-250 a month, whereas the price of residing continues to extend, with knock-on results for small companies tied to mining exercise.
Since independence in 1966, Botswana’s diamond wealth has remodeled what was as soon as among the many world’s poorest international locations right into a middle-income economic system, financing infrastructure, public providers and sustained progress.
However that success has additionally left it closely uncovered to world shocks. The sector is now underneath stress from weak demand, competitors from lab-grown diamonds and lowered luxurious spending in key markets, based on S&P World Rankings.
The downturn exposes the dangers of financial focus, stated Levy Ndou, a political scientist at Tshwane College of Expertise.
“When residents rely closely on one sector, a fall in world demand turns into very damaging.”
He referred to as for sooner diversification into agriculture and beef manufacturing, alongside stronger regional commerce hyperlinks.
Botswana’s Minister of Labour and Residence Affairs, Pius Mokgware, stated the federal government is responding by making an attempt to soak up job losses, together with increasing copper mining and opening new tasks. He added that diversification efforts are additionally focusing on agriculture, tourism and Info and Communication Expertise.
Minister of Minerals and Power, Bogolo Pleasure Kenewendo, didn’t reply to repeated requests for remark.
Tshepo Modibedi, President of the Small Scale Miners Affiliation of Botswana, stated smaller operators stay largely excluded from the diamond worth chain, which is dominated by giant corporations.
Whereas indirectly concerned in diamonds, the downturn nonetheless spreads by way of households nationwide, he stated.
“Lab-grown diamonds and strict laws are challenges,” he instructed Al Jazeera. “However they is also alternatives, if coverage turns into extra inclusive.”
For Rakhudu, nonetheless, structural shifts within the world diamond market stay distant from every day survival.
“I’m nonetheless trying,” he stated. “I simply need one other likelihood to work.”
