AngloGold Ashanti is set to cut 2,000 jobs, adding to a bloodbath of job losses in the mining industry, Business Day reported. The latest job cuts are to shrink AngloGold's support structure following the selling off and closure of mines.
This reportedly follows a litany of job cuts in both the gold and platinum industries. In 1995, there were 380,000 people working in SA's gold mines, and there are now under 116,000. A decade ago, 200,000 people were employed in the country's platinum mines. That figure is now reportedly 170,000.
According to Business Day, Pan African Resources recently announced that it was cutting 1,700 jobs after shutting its Evander gold mine due to the low gold price, while Lonmin will reportedly shed 12,600 jobs in the next three years.
Sibayne-Stillwater reportedly stopped its Cooke gold mining shafts recently, resulting in 3,000 job losses.
According to mining.com, AngloGold's announcement follows its decision last year to restructure its local mines, potentially leading to the laying off of 30 percent of its total workforce. AngloGold reportedly said this was due to "uncontrollable factors" such as ore body depletion, increasing depths of mines, declining production, rising labour costs and the increased costs of borrowing capital.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have reportedly promised to fight the job cuts.
Meanwhile, mining minister Gwede Mantashe said on Tuesday that the so-called "Gupta clause" in the controversial mining charter would be removed. The clause in question reportedly includes naturalised citizens in the group of people who should benefit more from the country's mineral resources. In an interview with Bloomberg, Mantashe reportedly said, "We'll take it out because it attracts attacks on the charter, it sounds like a Gupta clause."
The controversial charter, introduced in 2017, threatened around 100,000 jobs, the Chamber of Mines reportedly said.