Sibanye-Stillwater has told its shareholders that the mining giant is likely to cut jobs at two loss-making gold operations in its domestic market.
The employees who are expected to be affected are from shaft 4 at its Beatrix mine in Free State and at Kloof 1 near Carletonville in Gauteng.
The company said the ongoing losses at the Beatrix shaft 4 and the impact of depleting mineral reserves at the Kloof 1 plant have necessitated the job cuts.
Richard Stewart, chief regional officer: Southern Africa, said to allow shafts and operating plants that are no longer sustainable to continue operating at a loss threaten the company and its gold operations, and ultimately the employees.
“We are committed to minimising the impact of the proposed restructuring and will constructively engage with all the relevant stakeholders in an effort to avoid job losses while attempting to limit the impact on the remainder of the operations’ employees and the sustainability of the group,” said Stewart.
The company said it will enter into consultations with organised labour about possible retrenchments, noting that the process will consider measures to avoid and mitigate possible retrenchments and “seek alternatives to the potential cessation or downscaling of operations and associated services”.
“Subject to the outcome of the consultation process, it is envisaged that the proposed restructuring [of both Beatrix 4 shaft and Kloof 1 plant] may potentially result in the retrenchment of up to 1 959 employees and affect 465 contractors,” said the company in a statement.
It further said the purpose of consultations is to engage in a meaningful joint consensus-seeking process to avoid job losses.
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