Job Cuts Loom in SA Mining Sector

700 workers are set to lose their jobs at Dilokong Chrome Mine in South Africa.

ASA Metals, a Chinese company that operates a mine near Steelpoort, Limpopo, plans to retrench the workers and put the operation into care and maintenance after a protracted strike last year amid falling chrome prices.

South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM ) has intervened and said the company had not followed due legal processes and has appealed to the mines minister to intervene.

“The NUM requests Minister of Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane to intervene immediately to stop this drastic action by the company that will leave hundreds of mine workers in a dire situation,” the union said.

The mine’s closure promises to raise tensions in an already volatile region.

South Africa’s mining sector contributes around 7 percent to Africa’s 2nd largest economy.

In the recent past, the sector has been struggling with sinking commodity prices, rising costs and labour unrest.