Mining Weekly reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Highveld Region has noted “with regret” the decision taken by the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) board in terms of which Optimum Colliery, which remains under business rescue, will no longer be allowed to export coal using the allocated terminal.

The NUM said the decision would have a negative impact on the livelihoods of mine workers and the community depending on them in the Steve Tshwete municipality in Mpumalanga.  “What is disturbing more is the fact that the RBCT board did not even bother to engage with the NUM, the recognised labour union in Optimum Colliery. The board decided willy-nilly to take such a resolution that, in our view as the NUM, is detrimental and regressive,” the union said in a statement last week. According to the NUM, the assigned business rescue practitioners (BRPs) were not assisting the situation. It alleged that the BRPs were taking advantage of the coal price and were embarking on a self-interested profit-making endeavor instead of rescuing the business.  The NUM said the first beneficiaries should be former employees of the Optimum coal mine and that the primary focus of the BRPs should be to ensure that those employees were employed so that they could continue to support their families. The NUM will be requesting a meeting with the BRPs, the RBCT board and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy about the matter.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page