GroundUp reports that hundreds of mine workers took to the streets on the West Rand of Johannesburg on Saturday to protest looming retrenchments at gold producer Sibanye-Stillwater.
The protesting mine workers highlighted the impact that the company’s recent wave of retrenchments has had on workers and their families. Shortly after concluding a retrenchment process in December, Sibanye announced that more than 575 employees would be retrenched with a further 550 granted voluntary severance packages. Then in April the company announced that a further 4,000 jobs could be at risk in its gold operations. According to the producer, a business review identified a need to address losses at the Beatrix 1 shaft in the Free State and the Kloof 2 plant in the West Rand. The protest on Saturday was organised by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and supported by labour federation Cosatu. It came after disgruntled NUM members disrupted Cosatu’s May Day Rally in Soweto over what they claimed was a lack of support from the trade federation about the job losses at Sibanye. Unions also questioned the timing of the announcement by Sibanye, namely just before salary negotiations and at a time when the price of gold was surging. NUM in its memorandum of demands called for the resignation of top management and CEO Neal Froneman, “as they are unable to stabilise and run the mining company”. Calls were also made for the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe to revoke Sibanye’s mining licence. The union gave the company two weeks to respond, saying it would otherwise intensify industrial action.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ihsaan Haffejee at GroundUp
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