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Gold Fields mineworkers strike over retrenchments

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Mineworkers at Gold Fields South Deep mine have embarked on an indefinite strike. The strike, which started on Friday night, is led by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

It follows the company’s decision to retrench 1100 of its 5000 workforce due to financial losses. Four hundred and twenty contractors will also be affected.

The mine has already issued letters of termination to the workers. However, NUM says it’s having none of it.

NUM’s South Deep branch Chair, Kanetso Matabane says: “Gold Fields has been retrenching workers since 2008. They have also been changing management over the past 10 years. Management is claiming that they are not making a profit and have been forced to cut staff. However, we don’t agree with this, retrenchments will just create more problems. We believe poor management is at the heart of the company’s headaches.”

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