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Johannesburg – Job security in the mining sector remained negative, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Thursday.
"Employment in the sector has already shrunk by 131 000 since 2001‚ and continued policy uncertainty and labour disruptions may lead to further job losses,” Boitumelo Sethlatswe‚ a researcher at SAIRR warned.
He made the comments during the release of SAIRR figures recording that just over R10bn was lost in gold and platinum production during the mining sector stoppages last year.
An additional R180m was lost in coal production during the same period.
The institute said in a statement on Thursday that the total value of production lost across all sectors of mining amounted to R15.3bn.
The SAIRR used calculations by the National Treasury on the cost to the South African economy of mining sector stoppages.
The Treasury estimates that the mining stoppages subtracted 50 basis points from gross domestic product (GDP) growth last year resulting in GDP growth of 2.5% instead of 3%.
The losses in the mining sector damaged other sectors of the economy‚ the institute noted.
The sectors most affected were fabricated metal products‚ machinery and equipment‚ rubber‚ and basic iron and steel.
Export revenues were also projected to be about R12bn lower in 2012 than they would have been without the disruptions.
The Treasury said that because of the strong linkages that mining had with other sectors‚ the export losses exceeded the direct losses.
“The outlook in the mining industry continues to be bleak," Sethlatswe said.
He also said according to Statistics SA‚ value added by the mining and quarrying sector decreased by R4bn from R70bn in the third quarter to R66bn in the fourth quarter of last year.
Sethlatswe noted that The Treasury reported a decrease of 16.7% in mining output between July and October last year as a result of the strikes.
"Employment in the sector has already shrunk by 131 000 since 2001‚ and continued policy uncertainty and labour disruptions may lead to further job losses,” Boitumelo Sethlatswe‚ a researcher at SAIRR warned.
He made the comments during the release of SAIRR figures recording that just over R10bn was lost in gold and platinum production during the mining sector stoppages last year.
An additional R180m was lost in coal production during the same period.
The institute said in a statement on Thursday that the total value of production lost across all sectors of mining amounted to R15.3bn.
The SAIRR used calculations by the National Treasury on the cost to the South African economy of mining sector stoppages.
The Treasury estimates that the mining stoppages subtracted 50 basis points from gross domestic product (GDP) growth last year resulting in GDP growth of 2.5% instead of 3%.
The losses in the mining sector damaged other sectors of the economy‚ the institute noted.
The sectors most affected were fabricated metal products‚ machinery and equipment‚ rubber‚ and basic iron and steel.
Export revenues were also projected to be about R12bn lower in 2012 than they would have been without the disruptions.
The Treasury said that because of the strong linkages that mining had with other sectors‚ the export losses exceeded the direct losses.
“The outlook in the mining industry continues to be bleak," Sethlatswe said.
He also said according to Statistics SA‚ value added by the mining and quarrying sector decreased by R4bn from R70bn in the third quarter to R66bn in the fourth quarter of last year.
Sethlatswe noted that The Treasury reported a decrease of 16.7% in mining output between July and October last year as a result of the strikes.
