Wesizwe’s core project is the Bakubung Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, North West Province, on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex.
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Wesizwe Platinum (Wesizwe) said Thursday its Bakubung Platinum Minerals project had begun a Section 189A consultation process about a restructuring that might result in 497 retrenchments, or some 70% of the staff.
The start of the process followed a board decision to discontinue the company's 1 million tons per annum (Mtpa) production strategy, with immediate effect. The mine’s management added in a statement to the JSE New Services that operations at the mine would be suspended for three weeks to “facilitate meaningful engagement during the consultation process and create an environment that allows all parties to focus on the matters under consultation.”
In place of the 1 Mtpa strategy, the company now plans a revised development strategy based on a single-stage ramp-up of a 3.5 Mtpa operation. This revised strategy; however, would necessitate a reduction in the number of employees required to establish and sustain the production profile contemplated in the updated business plan, the company said.
“As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance operational efficiency, Bakubung has determined that a restructuring of its workforce is necessary to ensure effective and sustainable operation of its business and to meaningfully reduce operating expenditure,” Wesizwe’s management said. Affected stakeholders would jointly consider measures and alternatives to avoid or mitigate retrenchments, but a preliminary assessment was that viable alternatives to workforce reduction were “limited”.
“Maintaining the current headcount of 706 employees will not constitute a reasonable or sustainable course of action, as it will fail to address the company’s operational challenges and its imperative to implement efficiency measures and restore a trajectory of profitability and growth,” the company management said.
A National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesperson said the union had about 200 members at Bakubung, and they had been told that Wesizwe’s management would inform workers on Friday the reasons for the Section 189A notices, after which the matter would be discussed further.
The spokesperson said the union suspected, however, that the company was planning to employ contract workers, as it plans to ramp up production, while at the same time it is reducing its permanent staff. He said it had become a trend for mining companies to employ contract workers when expanding production, but the problem was these workers too often tended to neglect health and safety protocols in their efforts to meet production targets.
Wesizwe’s Bakubung project in North West province was first announced in 2008, but has faced many delays including funding delays, disruption through the Covid pandemic, labour unrest and a cyberattack.
Wesizwe said late last month it would start processes that would result in its suspension from the JSE being lifted, following the publication of its financial results for the year to December 31, 2025.
Its results, also released last month, showed that, “from a liquidity perspective, the early settlement of the China Development Bank loan had materially reduced near-term debt repayment obligations and provided the group with improved financial flexibility. The headline earnings increased to 9.86 cents per share, from a headline loss of 12.23 cents per share the previous year.
South Africa accounts for more than 70% of the global supply of platinum, which is used mainly in autocatalysts that reduce harmful vehicle exhaust emissions. Dampening future demand for the metal is the fact that electric vehicles do not require autocatalyst metals.
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