Trade unions and the management of gold producer Harmony have agreed to redeploy workers at two of the six shafts earmarked for closure, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Monday.
Last month, Harmony, the country’s third biggest gold producer, announced that it might have to close six of its mine shafts, citing the impact of the weak gold price.
NUM had threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if Harmony proceeded with its plans to close the shafts, which would have put about 5 000 people out of work.
Shafts that were affected included Welkom 1, Orkney 6, Eland (in the Free State) and Merriespruit 3. Masimong 4 shafts and Nyala shafts were put under a 60 day statutory review.
A task team was set up by the management of Harmony and NUM to investigate the planned closure.
“The task team has found that there is no necessity of losing jobs in the mines that are under review,” said NUM spokesperson Moferefere Lekorotsoane.
The task team said that the closure of four of the six shafts could not be justified. While the closure of Orkney 6 and Eland looked inevitable, Lekorotsoane said workers would be redeployed wherever possible.
“The parties had agreed to absorb workers from the affected shafts into other operations,” Lekorotsoane said
Lekorotsoane said a detailed discussion on the task team report, together with management’s overall picture of the company, would be conducted at a follow-up meeting to be held on May 17.