Union Blasts Petra over 200 Job Losses
February 12, 25
(IDEX Online) - The proposed loss of 200 jobs at Petra's Cullinan and Finsch mines will have "devastating consequences" for employees, families and the wider economy, according to South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
The union expressed fears that they'd be replaced with contract workers, as is common practice in mines across the country. Unemployment in South Africa is running at 40 per cent, it said.
UK-based Petra announced last December that it would be laying off a then-unspecified number of workers as part of its "cash generation and savings initiatives", in the light of ongoing weak demand.
The company saw like-for-like prices drop by 7 per cent at its last tender of 2024, and has cut its pricing assumptions for next year amid "prevailing market weakness".
"While we note the potential adverse impact of the global diamond market currently it is not justifiable to destroy jobs to preserve super profits for avaricious shareholders and self-centred super-rich oligarchy," said Masibulele Naki, NUM diamond sector chief negotiator on Sunday (9 February).
Petra has issued notices to retrench 200 employees at Cullinan, east of Pretoria and Finsch in the Northern Cape.
"We note that for operations to be sustainable, they must align with their vision. However, cutting costs as a consequence does not have to lead to job cuts but to an alignment in how much the executives and shareholders take home," Naki added.
In an update last December Petra said: "We remain committed to our target of net cash generation in FY 2025 and have commenced additional cash generation and savings initiatives.
"This has regrettably required us to initiate a section 189 (retrenchment) process affecting our Group and SA Operations support functions. Vivek Gadodia has been appointed Chief Restructuring Officer to lead the execution of this work."
Petra said in a statement that the retrenchment was "an unfortunate and difficult decision," and that it had explored every possible alternative to possible job losses.
It had, however, become necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of its operations.
Richard Duffy, stated "We deeply regret having to undertake this process, as we understand the impact it has on our employees and their families," said CEO Richard Duffy.
"Retrenchments are always a last resort, however the business finds itself at a point where fixed labour cost reduction is unavoidable, even as we continue to reduce all our non-labour costs and optimise capital spend in the business."
Petra said it was the third time it had undertaken such a process in the last year, though the reasons had varied.
Pic shows Finsch mine.