Business
South Africa: Amplats to sell mines and layoff 14,000
The restructuring would cost 3.2 billion rand (US$366 million) and result in a 400,000 ounce drop in platinum output, cutting total output by as much as a fifth.
A two-month consultation process with unions started on Tuesday, but initial reactions appear to offer little hope of a deal to save the jobs.
“We are really shocked,” said Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the main union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). “It’s a disaster for the economy, it’s a disaster for all of us.
“We are appealing to all workers to come together in fighting these retrenchments and working together to safeguard existing jobs.”
Similar problems affect other mines
Harmony Gold announced earlier in January that it may shut a mine in Carletonville near Johannesburg, potentially affecting 6,000 staff.
World number four gold producer Gold Fields in December cut off a chunk of its South African business into a separate company that will shield its shares from future unrest.
