Sibanye-Stillwater said it will retrench more than 2000 workers at its local gold operations in the country and Southern Africa.
The company said the announcement comes after it concluded consultations with relevant stakeholders that includes organised labour and other representatives of affected non-unionised employees.
“As per the announcement on 11 April 2024, 3,107 employees and 915 contractors were potentially affected by the section 189 process.
Constructive consultations were held with affected stakeholders, during which various avoidance measures to mitigate possible retrenchments and minimise job losses at the operations and associated services were considered,” said Sibanye-Stillwater’s CEO Neal Froneman.
The mining company said operations at Beatrix 1 Shaft will continue, on condition of there being no net losses on an average trailing three-month basis from 1 June 2024.
The Beatrix 1 shaft currently employs 422 employees, 100 contractors, and 629 employees elected voluntary separation packages or early retirement packages.
“Natural attrition of 116 employees occurred during the period, while 448 employees accepted transfers.
Hundred and eleven employees could not be accommodated through the agreed avoidance measures and have been retrenched with an additional 1,130 contractor employees impacted,” explained Froneman.
According to the company, the alignment of the regional and shared services structures to the optimised operational footprint, will reduce services and regional overhead costs that are allocated to the operations, positively impacting the sustainability of the South African region.
The company has in the past two years closed five shafts in the country, restructured others, resulting in more than 70 000 jobs.
Froneman said they would also merge gold and platinum-metals operations, and their confident that this will reduce overhead costs and ensure sustained production.
“We have restructured the South African region to align with the reduced operating footprint following the necessary operational restructuring for greater regional sustainability and profitability and we are well positioned for ongoing shared value delivery,” added Froneman.
