Johannesburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) rejected yesterday Sibanye Gold’s takeover of Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats) Rustenburg operations, saying it would open the floodgates for job cuts.
The union’s anger comes after Sibanye announced that it would take over Amplats' operations as of November 1, after the Department of Mineral Resources granted consent for the R4.5 billion deal, which was announced last year.
The consent was granted in terms of section 11 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 and was the final hurdle in the sale of the mining rights.
Livhuwani Mammburu, NUM’s spokesman, said there was nothing to celebrate in the consent. Mammburu blamed Sibanye’s chief executive, Neal Froneman, saying he was likely to issue a section 189 notice of the Labour Relations Act, signalling retrenchments.
“As the NUM, we know him as Mr Retrenchments, not Mr Fix-it. Froneman, makes profits by focusing on retrenchments,” Mammburu said.
“That is his strategy and it is the reason that he hates NUM with a passion because we are always opposed to his strategy of retrenchments. This man is not a messiah in the mining industry. He makes profits by retrenching black mineworkers.”
Destroying jobs
“The NUM cannot celebrate capitalist barbarism at Sibanye Gold. The company is currently thriving on dividing black mineworkers with the intention to make the profit. This company is destroying jobs in the mining industry,” he said.
Amplats sold its struggling Rustenburg operations to Sibanye as part of a strategy to focus on its mechanised and less labour intensive mines.
Sibanye Gold, which had extended its portfolio into the platinum sector following the Amplats transaction, also took over Aquarius Platinum, making it South Africa’s second-biggest platinum producer by value.
Froneman said earlier yesterday that he welcomed the consent from the Department of Mineral Resources.
“We welcome the receipt of the section 11 consent from the Department of Mineral Resources, which is the last regulatory condition outstanding. We look forward to now incorporating the Rustenburg Operations into our Platinum Division, which will allow us to realise cost savings across the group and operational synergies to create a sustainable Platinum Division and to unlock value for the benefit of all stakeholders,” he said.
“This transaction is consistent with Sibanye’s strategy to grow its business in order to sustain its position as an industry-leading, dividend-paying company.”
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