Johannesburg - Another 1 000 permanent and contractual jobs could be lost in the mining industry, bringing total
potential job losses to more than 12 000, trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday.
The trade union said it has received two more retrenchment notices from mines, which could jointly result in the retrenchment of nearly 1 000 employees.
About 400 employees of Consolidated Murchison Mine (Consmurch) outside Phalaborwa and more than 580 contractors employed by Redpath Mining at International Ferro Metals (IFM) Lesedi mine outside Rustenburg could possibly lose their jobs in the retrenchment process.
In the notice received by Solidarity, Consmurch says the worldwide economic crisis and the drop in the demand for antimony were the primary reasons for the planned retrenchments.
The only producer of antimony in South Africa, Consmurch produces about 8% of the world's antimony. The company also mines gold.
Consmurch indicated that the retrenchments would be from among its support personnel in particular.
Solidarity has scheduled a meeting with the company on Tuesday next week to discuss possible alternatives to retrenchment.
In the meantime, IFM handed notice to the contractor Redpath on Tuesday in which the ferro-metals producer indicated that it would be terminating the services of the contractor due to operational reasons.
The termination of the contract would mean that 582 contract employees would lose their jobs in the process, said Solidarity.
Following retrenchments announced by platinum and gold producers in the past two weeks, Solidarity said more than 12 000 employees could now lose their work in the mining industry alone.
Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said the trade union was increasingly concerned about the crisis in the South African mining industry owing to the weakening of the worldwide economy.
The trade union is one of the members of a task team set up by the South African government and the mining industry to investigate the influence of current global economic conditions on South African mining.
This task team will, among other things, draw up a plan to provide alternatives for the retrenchment of the 12 000 mineworkers, Solidarity said.
"The world's economy currently has a massive influence on South Africa's mining industry and while there is no improvement in the economies of countries to which South Africa exports raw materials, local circumstances will also not improve," said Kleynhans.
- I-Net Bridge