Nearly 20Â 000 people could lose their jobs in the next two months, trade union Solidarity said on Thursday.
”We regard this as an employment state of emergency,” said Flip Buys, the union’s secretary general.
Solidarity is currently negotiating with 25 companies against the retrenchment of 18Â 293 workers, mostly in the mining, chemical, telecommunications and metal industries.
A further 1Â 500 jobs are threatened in individual cases, said spokesperson Dirk Hermann.
He said Solidarity has appointed a commission of enquiry into the economic rationale behind the retrenchments, which the companies concerned are blaming on the strong rand.
The commission will also look into possible ways to ”lessen the impact of the crisis”.
Solidarity is arguing that something must be done to lessen the damage wreaked on thousands of families by the effects of a strong rand.
”If a natural disaster causes economic disruption to 20Â 000 people, a state of emergency is declared. We accept that certain underlying economic factors cannot be altered, but I have never heard anybody say that because a natural emergency cannot be averted nothing can therefore be done for the victims,” Buys said.
The majority of retrenchments will be in the mining industry, Hermann said.
At Harmony Gold mines, 4Â 914 workers might be laid off.
DRDGold has said that the jobs of 6Â 513 workers are at stake.
De Beers is mentioning 1Â 270 retrenchments and Kumba 400.
Five chemical manufacturers around the country are also dismissing anything from 50 to 300 people each.
Telkom is seeking to reduce its staff by 2Â 903 people, and in the metal and engineering industry there are 15 companies that are planning lay-offs totalling more than 1Â 000 workers.
The findings of Solidarity’s commission will be published at the beginning of April, Hermann said. — Sapa