Job losses are a social threat, says Mantashe
by Natasha Marrian,
2015-07-28 06:28:00.0
THE private sector in SA will only realise the dangers of high unemployment when joblessness begins to cause disruptions, African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday in a talk urging mining companies to review plans to retrench workers.
His remarks follow announcements of job cuts at Lonmin and Anglo American Platinum last week, with Anglo planning to close a number of shafts and slicing its workforce in the Rustenburg area from 24,000 to 16,500. Harmony Gold is also cutting jobs, while Anglo is reducing its global workforce by a third.
Glencore’s Optimum Colliery is shedding more than 300 jobs and Anglo subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore is shutting its Thabazimbi mine at the cost of 1,160 jobs. A further 261 jobs are to be cut at its two Northern Cape mines after Kumba laid off 351 workers at head office.
Mr Mantashe was speaking after a three-day ANC national executive committee lekgotla which ended on Sunday.
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene delivered a presentation on the state of the economy. The lekgotla noted that the economy was growing at a "disappointingly low rate", with retrenchments in key sectors. The ANC called on mining companies to review their plans to cut jobs, as this would lead the country further into crisis.
Mr Mantashe said since 2008, the state had created jobs and employed more people — but the private sector "has not moved" in this regard. The private and public sectors did not view the issue in the same way, he said.
"High unemployment is a problem in society. The private sector will only realise the dangers of high unemployment when that high unemployment translates into disruptions; only then will they realise that," he said.
"We need to work together to create employment and absorb more.… The call we are making is that companies must not take the decision of destroying jobs easily — it should be a difficult decision."
The cyclical behaviour of commodity prices should not translate into a "stop, start" scenario, where companies retrench during slumps and absorb people during booms. Companies should have "more sophistication" in plans to accommodate the cyclical behaviour of commodities, he said.
The ANC would speak to companies to raise the matter.
Chamber of Mines president Mike Teke said he had not heard what Mr Mantashe had said but the chamber was open to talks to find a solution. "We are concerned about our country; we are concerned about our industry."
The ANC also called on the government to urgently attend to the "apparent crisis points" within state-owned entities (SOEs).
It said SOEs had to be "optimally used to improve economic infrastructure and increase economic growth".
With Allan Seccombe and Penelope Mashego
Gwede Mantashe. Picture: PUXLEY MAKGATHO
THE private sector in SA will only realise the dangers of high unemployment when joblessness begins to cause disruptions, African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday in a talk urging mining companies to review plans to retrench workers.
His remarks follow announcements of job cuts at Lonmin and Anglo American Platinum last week, with Anglo planning to close a number of shafts and slicing its workforce in the Rustenburg area from 24,000 to 16,500. Harmony Gold is also cutting jobs, while Anglo is reducing its global workforce by a third.
Glencore’s Optimum Colliery is shedding more than 300 jobs and Anglo subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore is shutting its Thabazimbi mine at the cost of 1,160 jobs. A further 261 jobs are to be cut at its two Northern Cape mines after Kumba laid off 351 workers at head office.
Mr Mantashe was speaking after a three-day ANC national executive committee lekgotla which ended on Sunday.
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene delivered a presentation on the state of the economy. The lekgotla noted that the economy was growing at a "disappointingly low rate", with retrenchments in key sectors. The ANC called on mining companies to review their plans to cut jobs, as this would lead the country further into crisis.
Mr Mantashe said since 2008, the state had created jobs and employed more people — but the private sector "has not moved" in this regard. The private and public sectors did not view the issue in the same way, he said.
"High unemployment is a problem in society. The private sector will only realise the dangers of high unemployment when that high unemployment translates into disruptions; only then will they realise that," he said.
"We need to work together to create employment and absorb more.… The call we are making is that companies must not take the decision of destroying jobs easily — it should be a difficult decision."
The cyclical behaviour of commodity prices should not translate into a "stop, start" scenario, where companies retrench during slumps and absorb people during booms. Companies should have "more sophistication" in plans to accommodate the cyclical behaviour of commodities, he said.
The ANC would speak to companies to raise the matter.
Chamber of Mines president Mike Teke said he had not heard what Mr Mantashe had said but the chamber was open to talks to find a solution. "We are concerned about our country; we are concerned about our industry."
The ANC also called on the government to urgently attend to the "apparent crisis points" within state-owned entities (SOEs).
It said SOEs had to be "optimally used to improve economic infrastructure and increase economic growth".
With Allan Seccombe and Penelope Mashego
Post a comment