Over 600 employees working at Seriti Klipspruit Colliery in Mpumalanga face the threat of job loss as the company serves the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) with a section 189 notice, signalling its intent to retrench workers.
In response to this announcement, NUM has planned a march to Seriti Klipspruit Colliery’s offices located in Sandton, north of Johannesburg. During the march, the union will deliver a memorandum outlining its concerns and objections to the potential retrenchments.
According to Malekulu Motubatse, a representative of NUM, the union believes that Seriti could have chosen alternative measures to address the situation instead of resorting to retrenchments. Motubatse contends that the company should consider retraining affected employees and relocating them to underground positions rather than dismissing them. Additionally, Seriti has announced plans to appoint a contractor named Blue Mining for underground mining operations, a move that NUM views as driven by profit maximisation.
The situation at Seriti Klipspruit Colliery underscores ongoing challenges faced by workers in the mining industry and the need for dialogue and collaboration between employers and labour unions to find mutually beneficial solutions that preserve jobs and worker livelihoods.
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