The Star writes that the mass job losses in the steel and mining industries have had a devastating ripple effect on mining towns, which depended largely on miners for consumer spend.
One such town is Thabazimbi in Limpopo, home to the more than 80-year-old Kumba Iron Ore Mine that shut down at the end of last year. Affecting 1,160 workers and many others contracted to companies in business with the mine, the closure has stripped the town of nearly all economic activity. The retrenched miners have packed their belongings, leaving empty streets and houses. The town is now occupied by an uneasy silence as those who remain contemplate the way forward.
- Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at IOL News
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