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The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has criticised the mining bosses and government for the recent announcement of mass retrenchments in the mining industry. The Union blames neoliberal policies for these developments.

“Government has already agreed with the retrenchments, and the State President merely asked for the mines to delay this until after the national elections”, said AMCU General Secretary Jeff Mphahlele. “However, companies are not sticking to that”, he said. “Section 189 was designed for companies to retrench if there is not enough profit, and that is why AMCU has called for the Labour Relations Act to be amended, especially for mines as minerals are owned by the people – and not by individuals”, he said.

Recent s189 notices in include those from Anglo American Platinum, Seriti Coal and Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine. Also, Sibanye-Stillwater Platinum just finished a retrenchment exercise at its Rustenburg and Marikana operations.

“All eyes are on AMCU to protect jobs, even though it is the responsibility of the State”, said Mphahlele. “It is commonly accepted that every mineworker supports up to ten people, meaning that these notices may very well end up affecting 37000 lives at Anglo American, 10 000 lives at Siyanda and the same number at Seriti Coal”, he added.

“Just recently, Sibanye-Stillwater Platinum issued a notice to affect more than 40 000 lives, and all of this is directly to blame on the neoliberal policies and new colonization of this government”, said Mphahlele. “We must also remember that these mass retrenchments has a very negative effect on the fiscus, as many tax-paying workers will no longer be contributing to the state coffers. Furthermore, these high levels of unemployment lead to various social ills in the communities where these workers come from”, he added.

“But now, trade unions are expected to do what government should be doing. What can trade unions do? Strike? Strikes are no longer effective. The fact is that all labour laws are no longer responsive to the current socioeconomic realities of this world. For us to really address these issues, be need to address key policy issues such as amending extractive trade agreements by maximizing beneficiation and limiting exports of raw materials to 60%”, Mphahlele said.

“Just imagine, it is the beginning of the year, and these workers have just enrolled their children in schools and universities. How will they now honour their commitments? This is really tragic and we must do everything in our power to stop this jobs bloodbath”, Mphahlele concluded.

Issued by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union