BL Premium reports that Pan African Resources’ Barberton mines on Tuesday defended its decision to retrench 244 mineworkers, saying illegal mining had made production cuts and job losses unavoidable.

According to the company, increasing gold theft, including by Pan African employees colluding with illegal miners and community members, has had a “major negative impact” on the mines. As a result, operating costs at some of Barberton’s business units had become unsustainable over an extended period. The gold producer said the retrenchments were “unavoidable” and would allow the mines to operate sustainably, delivering long-term value to stakeholders.   “However, we need our employees and communities to understand that illegal mining is killing the industry, and we are not immune to further cuts should the situation deteriorate any further,” it said. Several of the mineworkers who have been retrenched by Barberton have reportedly threatened to take legal action against the mines, saying the retrenchment process was carried out unfairly. Pan African defended the retrenchment process as transparent and fair, saying that affected workers were provided severance benefits and support in line with their employment contracts. It added that all legitimate stakeholders were involved in the process, including organised labour, the department of mineral & petroleum resources, traditional authorities and the municipality. With a direct workforce of 3,759 people, the mines are the largest employer in the Barberton region in Mpumalanga.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jacob Webster at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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