Seshoka said his union is at present against the retrenchment of workers due to the power crisis adding that workers cannot be held responsible and suffer due to electricity problems.

His warning comes after the country’s second largest gold producer Gold Fields announced that they could be forced to cut production and retrench about 7 000 of its 53 000 strong work force.

Gold Fields is also the world’s fourth largest gold miner. Goldfields CEO Ian Cockerill announced yesterday that a 10% reduction in power will lower its production by between 15 and 20% from June this year onwards. Cockerill said this will mean that they have to close down three shafts at Driefontein and two shafts at Kloof mine.

“This will see us looking at options such as voluntary retrenchments and early retirement. But formal retrenchment talks with unions are on hold until a meeting later this week between unions, the chamber of mines and government,” he said.

But the union is at present against the retrenchment of workers due to power cuts.
“The company must make sure that between themselves, Eskom and government they find a solution to this mess,” Seshoka said.

The power crisis has forced miners to partially close mines, curbed output and put jobs at risk.

The mining industry in South Africa is a big foreign currency earner and job creator. The sector was ground to a halt for five days last month after electricity shortages became a national emergency.

Since then mines are operating at 90% of the electricity they normally need, affecting production and resulting in high mineral prices.

On Monday gold rose as high as $951,90 an ounce just below a recent historic high on investor buying, before paring gains. Meanwhile AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s largest gold producer said it has no immediate plans to cut jobs.

This is despite its forecast that the power crisis will cut its output this year by 400 000 ounce to4,8 million.

Keywords:  south_africa mining business