BusinessLive reports that Pan African Resources (PAR) will spend R54m laying off nearly 1,000 employees from its Evander Gold mine.  This comes after members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) gave the union’s "blessing" to agree to a plan, to save the mine.  

The loss-making mine in Mpumalanga will lay off 976 people (30%), the NUM said on Monday.  The reduction in jobs will initially focus on voluntary separation packages and redeployment to other operations within PAR.  The company will earmark some staff for its proposed Elikhulu tailings project at Evander, but it needs to raise R1.7bn to start the project.  The NUM noted that up to 2,400 jobs were under threat when at the end of February Evander served the section 189 (retrenchment) notice on unions.  The NUM’s members agreed to the deal with PAR, giving the union their "blessing to sign, so to avoid the closure of the mine".

• Read this report by Allan Seccombe in full at BusinessLive
• See too, Pan African to retrench 30% at Evander, at Business Report
• Read the NUM’s statement in this regard at Cosatu Today

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page