Sibanye-Stillwater has announced that talks for the retrenchment of more than 4000 employees and contractors at its South African gold operations. The company says reductions will be at all its operations and regional
head office where employee numbers were surplus to current and future activities.
“Sibanye-Stillwater advises stakeholders that it will enter into consultations in terms of Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 (S189) with organised labour and other representatives of affected non-unionised employees, regarding the proposed restructuring at its SA gold operations and its Southern Africa region services functions.
“Further to previous restructuring concluded during 2023 and Q1 2024, the ongoing Group business review has identified a need to address losses at the Beatrix 1 shaft, which has been unable to deliver planned production, and the Kloof 2 plant which, after the closure of the Kloof 4 shaft during 2023, has had insufficient processing material available to cover overheads.
“The deferral of capital expenditure at the Burnstone project, announced in February 2024, also requires restructuring aligned with the reduction in planned capital activities,” said Sibanye-Stillwater Chief Executive
Officer, Neal Froneman.
The company said the reduction in the local operational footprint, has resulted in the capacity of the direct and shared services functions for the local region and operations being surplus to current and future
requirements.
Due to the reductions, the company has proposed a re-alignment of the regional services, shared services, and direct services structures to align with the requirements of the reduced operational footprint. Sibanye-Stillwater is confident that this will reduce direct operational services costs and regional overhead costs which are allocated to the operations, thereby contributing to the sustainability of the South African region.
“The proposed restructuring of the operations and services could potentially affect 3 107 employees and 915 contractors. Management therefore considers it prudent to commence with the S189 consultations process on the potential restructuring of the identified operations and services and has invited affected employees and/or their representatives to engage in consultations as required by Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act,” explained Froneman.
According to the company, the consultation process is to, among others, consider alternative measures to minimise job losses while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the South African operations. “Various alternatives have already been considered by management and organised labour representatives in Future Forum meetings. All reasonable options that may be suggested by affected employees through their representatives to address the losses during the Section 189A consultation process will be welcomed and duly considered,” said Froneman.
