Related Articles
Top Stories
May 25 2012 13:58
The costs of the first phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project have increased significantly to almost R90bn, according to a report.
May 24 2012 17:31
The Reserve Bank will maintain current interest rates, and a considerable reduction in the local petrol price is anticipated, says governor Gill Marcus.
May 25 2012 11:36
The JSE has identified and stopped "incorrect" trades from one of its members, and will reverse the trades and lower the session's total value after the close.
Durban - None of the workers at the BHP Billiton aluminium smelter in Richards Bay have been retrenched yet and none of the potlines have been shut down, the plant's head of communication Maredi Mogodi said on Thursday.
He was responding to reports that two potlines at the company's
Bayside smelter were closed on Wednesday.
"There is a ramp down of potlines meaning that we are decreasing the number of pots to meet with Eskom's 10% energy reduction. But
this does not mean that they have been shut down," he said.
Mogodi said this reduction would result in the loss of hundreds of millions of rands.
He also stressed that none of the 400 affected workers were
retrenched.
"We are continuing consultations with unions in that regard."
Earlier, the Zululand Chamber of Business in a statement said two
potlines at the smelter had been closed to meet with Eskom's 10%
reduction of energy.
The chamber's president Garth Macartney said potline B and C were
closed and would result in the loss of between R25 and R30m each
month.
Late last month, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa)
said that the plant's management had confirmed that it would be issuing final notices to 800 affected workers and that retrenchments would be effected on April 1.
BHP Billiton denied this.
- Sapa