The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) is appalled that Sibanye-Stillwater has gone ahead with retrenchments. Though it initially intended to retrench 4 000 employees and contractors at the beginning of this process, it only retrenched 2 000.
In its official statement, Sibanye-Stillwater revealed that they have reduced their employees and contractors from “approximately 81,500 at the end of 2022 to just over 70,000 currently.” This jobs bloodbath at Sibanye-Stillwater is anchored by the restructuring of the business to maximise profitability and, reportedly, due to the life span of some shafts coming to an end.
Their admission that they are “restructuring … loss-making shafts” vindicates our argument in the previous statement, where we said that Sibanye is retrenching workers solely in pursuit of profits. Capitalistically, their purpose and social responsibility are owed not to job preservation or employment creation but to raking in profits.
This capitalistic logic has led Sibanye-Stillwater and other firms to disrupt the livelihood of thousands of mineworkers through retrenchments callously. As we have argued before, the ripple effect of these retrenchments extends beyond the affected employees, impacting entire families and communities who rely on the income of mineworkers for their sustenance. With each retrenchment, the burden on the unemployed grows heavier, exacerbating the challenges faced by those striving to support their families amidst economic uncertainty.
