Durban Deep wields jobs axe as rand bites
By John Fraser
Gold producer Durban Roodepoort Deep says it will retrench up to 2,000 workers at its Blyvooruitzicht mine in Carletonville as the strong rand continues to wreak havoc on marginal mines in SA.
The rand gold price has improved since the June quarter, but this does not appear to have been enough to save jobs at Blyvooruitzicht mine, and retrenchments are expected to start on September 20.
The company said yesterday it had pursued an active dialogue with the unions, which had agreed to the retrenchment package.
The packages are expected to cost the mine about R100m.
National Union of Mineworkers' leader at the mine Hibana Mbuyiseli confirmed the unions had agreed to the retrenchments " as there was no other choice" .
He said there were fears that more retrenchments could be sought in the next six months.
Durban Deep said the current wave of retrenchments were " intended to restore Blyvooruitzicht to profitability.
" The intention is to reduce overheads immediately and return the mine to break-even, and then to at most (costs of) R80,000/kg.
" It is to preserve the mine's existing infrastructure, in order to have a sound platform for remedial action over the next six months, and for a strategy to take the mine into the future," the company said.
Last month Durban Deep announced a net loss of R280,5m for the June quarter, compared with a R64,7m net profit in the March quarter.
CE Ian Murray said at the time Durban Deep was taking action to restore its South African operations to profitability, including discussions with the unions about the fate of Blyvooruitzicht.
Murray said the strength of the rand had become an industrywide problem in SA, and he warned that further job losses were inevitable.
A stakeholder team had been established at Blyvooruitzicht in March to try to improve efficiencies and minimise the need for retrenchments.
However, Murray said that there had been " no discernible improvement in either our production or operating efficiencies" .
" Consequently, a notice of a 60-day review in terms of the Labour Relations Act was given on June 28."
Further retrenchments were also on the cards for Durban Deep's Buffels shafts at its North West operations, where another consultation process with the unions is underway.
The Buffels shaft employs about 400 people.
The company retrenched 3,000 workers at its North West operations last year, and a further 900 retrenchments were announced earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the company said it had appointed Mark Munroe, who was previously the production manager at its North West operations, as GM of Blyvooruitzicht.
Business Day
10/09/2004 Source: Business Day