iNet Bridge reports that platinum producer Lonmin has to build accommodation for 11‚500 of its employees‚ but the weak platinum price was working against major housing investment‚ CEO Ben Magara said on Friday.
Lonmin has 33‚000 people working on its mines near Rustenburg‚ of which 25‚000 are its employees. It has built accommodation for more than half of those‚ with 11‚500 still "in need of decent accommodation‚" Magara indicated. Lonmin has converted its single-sex hostels and has built apartments near those hostels. It has also donated land to the government to build houses. "We are 50% of the way there and the rest of our employees are living in areas where we feel they deserve better. But we need to be profitable,” Magara said at a media briefing. Lonmin is engaged in talks with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) to determine what exactly is needed for the 11‚500 employees living in substandard conditions in informal settlements around its mines. But Magara was clear that Lonmin could not on its own build the housing for 11‚500 people and it needed assistance from the government and other parties.
- Read this report in full at eNCA
- Read too, Platinum promises to provide housing have lost their shine, at Business Times
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page