Local business owners say business struggling to survive since closure of Bokoni Platinum Mine

The local business owners in the Atok area, outside Burgersfort in Limpopo, say their businesses are struggling to survive since the closure of Bokoni Platinum Mine four years ago.

The mine closure has left more than 2 000 people unemployed.

In new developments, mining magnate Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Minerals is in discussions with Anglo Platinum and Atlatsa Resources, to acquire and resuscitate Bokoni Platinum Mine.

The property owners and business owners say it has become difficult to make a living.

“I had been renting out fourteen rooms in total. Now those rooms are empty and dilapidated because I’m unable to maintain them. I was making a living out of these rooms because my husband passed on in 2010. Now we are struggling and we wish the mine can reopen so that the miners could return and rent out our rooms again,” says a business owner.

“I was transporting mine workers here. Our business was extremely affected because we are no longer able to make enough money anymore. Now I only get two to three loads a day, but when the mine was operating, I was able to make up to ten loads a day. There’s no money, that’s why we are calling for the reopening of the mine,” says another business owner.