Sibanye Gold Expects 5,270 Job Cuts With Closing of South Africa Mine Shafts

(Bloomberg) -- Sibanye Gold Ltd. plans to cut 5,270 jobs at its troubled Marikana platinum mines as deadlocked wage negotiations brought a strike one step nearer.

Sibanye is restructuring operations acquired when it purchased Lonmin Plc earlier this year to become the world’s biggest platinum miner. After posting a gain of 1.1 billion rand ($73 million) on the deal, the company plans to shut three unprofitable shafts as Chief Executive Officer Neal Froneman seeks to resume paying dividends next year.

“Overall, the outcome will be a more sustainable business which is able to secure employment for the majority of the Marikana workforce for a much longer period,” the CEO said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, the largest union in the platinum mining industry, said the company was prioritizing profit over people by exploiting South Africa’s labor laws to cut jobs.

“Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act becomes another weapon to secure the super profits of mining bosses,” the union said. “AMCU will spare no resource to ensure the job security of workers.”

The union earlier said that it had referred wage talks to South Africa’s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

“We have referred the dispute to the CCMA which will try and mediate the process,” said AMCU Secretary-General Jeff Mpahlele. “If we fail with the CCMA process, then we will decide whether we go on strike.”

While the job losses at Marikana are smaller than originally envisaged by Lonmin, following a rally in platinum-group metals, about 5,900 positions have already been cut at the operations since 2017. AMCU opposed the takeover of Lonmin and led a five-month strike at Sibanye’s gold mines that contributed to the company’s first-half loss.

Some union members will meet later this week to decide on an offer from Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., Mpahlele said.

Negotiations with Anglo American Platinum Ltd. are still being dealt with through internal dispute resolution mechanisms, said company spokesman, Sibusiso Tshabalala.

--With assistance from Dylan Griffiths and Paul Burkhardt.

To contact the reporter on this story: Felix Njini in Johannesburg at fnjini@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Dylan Griffiths, Nicholas Larkin

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