Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe believes the success of a business transaction between former mineworkers and new investors Wescoal will pave the way for more similar initiatives.
Mantashe handed over 50% shareholding held by mining company Exxaro in Arnot Coal mine to former employees.
If workers own an entity, we believe they will be able to take care of that entity. We must empower workers.
We handed over 50% shareholding to #ArnotMine workers in Mpumalanga. #WorkersDay #MayDay #InvestinSAMining #GrowSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/CzjdZLQku3
— Gwede Mantashe (@GwedeMantashe1) May 1, 2019
The workers were retrenched by the mine in 2016 after the company closed operations. The workers are now running the mine with Wescoal, whose also providing mining expertise.
The Department of Mineral Resources says this is the first of it’s kind and hopes it can be replicated elsewhere.
Mantashe has hailed the partnership as a great milestone in the mining sector. “We are hoping this experiment will be a success so that it could be replicated. When the workers own a mine, it’s likely to succeed,” says Mantashe.
The former mine owner, Exxaro, has given its mining assets to the workers who’ll also be provided with skills to run the mine.
