It is a year since Motshwegwa Rakhudu lost 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 expected the arrangement would continue through to 2027.
Instead, he was retrenched and made redundant without warning.
“The shock was too much,” Rakhudu, (not his real name), told Al Jazeera.
“In early 2025, I took a loan of 26,000 pula (about $1,900) to buy a car because I believed my job was secure. By mid-May, I was out of work.” He said the sudden retrenchment left him struggling with debt and household responsibilities, including school fees, with no compensation received.
“Being caught unprepared has been very difficult. Jobs are scarce, and even when work is available outside mining, the pay is much lower. I am still looking for work,” he said.
Rakhudu said he has considered farming or starting a small business, but lacks the capital. Selling his car, he added, would only cover the outstanding loan.
“I would want to go into farming, but if I sell the car, the money will only clear the loan,” he said.
Al Jazeera contacted Gaotlhobogwe Radikwata, a senior management official at Enabler Hires (Pty) Ltd, for comment on the retrenchments.
“I am not going to answer your questions even if you convince me you are from Al Jazeera. Who gave you my number? I never shared my contacts with journalists. I am not at liberty to share information,” she said.
The retrenchments come as Botswana’s diamond sector, the backbone of its economy, slows sharply.
Debswana Diamond Company, a joint venture between the government and De Beers, cut production by about 27% in 2024 to 17.9 million carats amid weak global demand, and plans further reductions to around 15 million carats in 2025. The company accounts for roughly 90% of Botswana’s diamond sales.
That slowdown has rippled through the wider economy. Botswana’s output contracted by about 5.3% in the second quarter of 2025, the sharpest fall since the pandemic, driven largely by declining diamond production, according to Reuters.
Diamonds account for around 70% of export earnings and roughly a third of government revenue, according to Reuters and S&P Global Ratings, which in 2025 downgraded Botswana’s sovereign credit rating to BBB-, citing sustained pressure from the global diamond downturn and weakening fiscal revenues.
