The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in Kimberley has condemned the imminent retrenchments of about 150 Kimberley Ekapa Mining Joint Venture (KEM-JV) workers.
The NUM is seeking the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration’s (CCMA) intervention after the mine confirmed the retrenchment of employees due to the closure of its Bulfontein Mine.
NUM’s Kimberley regional Secretary Cornelius Manhe says, “We never engaged one another, we just attended a meeting and told them that we are requesting parties to apply for CCMA facilitation. Obviously we can’t be happy if members are going to be retrenched. We are against retrenchment because it brings poverty.”
The Kimberley Ekapa Mining Joint Venture’s spokesperson, Gert Kloppers says they have no choice but to retrench.
“Unfortunately few weeks ago we’ve had a mud push underground, at one of our shafts, which resulted in a lot of damage, three levels being affected by that. Underground vehicles being affected, unfortunately due to the mud push we were not left with much of a choice but to reduce numbers through issuing a sections 189 notification to employees,” says Kloppers.
