Minister calls on Implats to discuss mass job cuts

Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe again called on Impala Platinum (Implats) yesterday to come to the table to discuss massive job cuts at its operations.

He also reiterated that the department was not antagonistic towards industry players.

“The day before yesterday we had a meeting with the mining industry. We had 35 CEOs and senior executives under one roof and were actually beginning to debate and discuss the future of the industry,” Mantashe said.

“Impala Platinum was not part of that meeting.

“And then when they released this information yesterday, it became clear to me that they are walking in the opposite direction to the rest of the industry.

“Therefore, the conflict is a self-manufactured conflict by Impala Platinum because any company in the industry that is serious was in that meeting.”

Mantashe was speaking following an Implats announcement that it is to retrench 13 000 workers, mostly in Rustenburg, as part of its restructuring programme for continued viability.

Implats announced on Thursday it was slashing the number of its mines from 11 to six.

It also plans to cut future annual production to 520 000 ounces of platinum as this would reduce the company’s headcount from about 40 000 employees, plus contractors, to 27 000.

The minister said he had previously held discussions with Impala Platinum regarding section 52 notices.

He added that he had told the company to look at alternatives for workers and only consider issuing section 189 retrenchment notices as a last resort. – ANA