Bereng Mpaki
THE management of Mothae Diamond Mine has warned the public not to fall prey to confidence tricksters who have placed advertisements on various social media platforms claiming that the mine is on massive recruitment exercise.
Mothae Mine is located close to the high dollar-per carat gem producer, Letšeng Diamonds in Mokhotlong, and it was put up for sale by the government in February 2016 after prospective buyer Paragon Diamonds Limited failed to secure the requisite funding within the given time frame.
In April this year, the government awarded mining rights to Australian-based Lucapa Diamonds to develop the mine which had been idle since 2015. Lucapa holds 70 percent shares at Mothae Mine while the government holds the remaining 30 percent.
Of late, purported job advertisements at the mine have gone viral on various social media platforms.
One such advertisement appeared last week on a South African website with the title: Mothae Diamond Mine Open New Vacancies for People to Work Permanent Positions.
[beautifulquote align=”left” cite=””]Some of the listed vacancies were for general workers, boiler makers, pipe fitters, electricians, artisans, security officers, receptionists, secretaries, belt attendants, diesel mechanics, welders, machine operators, front end loaders and mobile crane operators.[/beautifulquote]
The advertisement even had phone numbers of the ‘contact person’ for ‘interview bookings’ who is South African.
However, the mine management has distanced itself from the purported vacancies saying when these become available, credible local media outlets would be used.
“The office of Mothae Diamonds (PTY) LTD informs the public that it has come to our attention about an advertisement for job vacancies on the internet,” the mine said in a recent statement.
“We wish to state that such an advertisement was not issued by Mothae Diamonds (PTY) LTD and its shareholders.
“The office of Mothae Diamonds therefore informs the public that it will issue advertisements in local newspapers and radio when such job vacancies become available, based on the agreement between Mothae Diamonds and its shareholders.
“This announcement is made by the management of Mothae Diamonds (PTY) LTD and Lucapa Diamonds LTD Australia Management.”
For his part, the public relations officer of the Ministry of Mining, Rorisang Mahlo, condemned the internet scam.
“We totally condemn this type of behaviour as the Ministry of Mining and also as shareholders at Mothae mine. It is clear that the move is intended to extort money out of the poor Basotho who are desperate to find jobs,” Mr Mahlo said.
He said while they were yet to establish if anyone had lost money to the scammers, they would investigate the matter in order to bring the perpetrators to book.
Similar job scams have previously been reported at Liqhobong Mine and the Matekane Group of Companies.
