Business Report writes that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is planning to march to AngloGold Ashanti’s (AGA’s) Vaal Reefs offices, near Orkney in the North West, on Thursday to fight against the retrenchments in the mining industry.  

NUM general secretary David Sipunzi said on Monday that close to 20,000 mineworkers would be affected by looming job cuts in the industry in circumstances where the sector had shed more than 80,000 jobs in the past five years.  “Capitalism uses retrenchments to maximise profits when their pockets are becoming dry the first thing that comes into their minds is to retrench workers.  It is on that basis that we are saying that workers are victims of monopoly capital,” Sipunzi said.  AGA recently announced the possible retrenchment of 8,5000 employees amid plans to place the loss making Kopanag Mine and the Savuka section of its Tau Tona on care and maintenance.

• Based on a report by Dineo Faku at Business Report
• Read too, Retrenching 8,500 SA workers will cost AngloGold Ashanti R625m, at Fin24

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page