Article: Mining job cuts a shock: minister

Plans by Anglo American Platinum to cut 14,000 jobs came as a shock to the government, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said on Tuesday.

"It is regrettable that the company consulted with [my] department less than seven days ago despite the major secio-economic ramifications of its decision," she told reporters in Pretoria.
 
It was inevitable the way you lot have managed the problems, you dipschitted moron.

You cannot expect large cost-burdened companies to continue in the environment you have engendered. They are not only closing down mines, but have put in place a Capex spend-cut programme to reduce Capex spend by 25% in ten years - these are not relative-based either, these are actualised cuts on current value. Factor in inflation and you realise exactly what a massive blow this is to the industry.

This is the biggest cock up of the current regime to date in terms of the economy, and AngloPlats will not be the last to cut operations here. The others will follow suit in the coming year.

And to those who believe that this is simply a reaction to lower demand, please bear in mind that lower demand has been offset by higher prices. It is barely as significant a factor as the government would have you believe...
 
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rpm said:
Plans by Anglo American Platinum to cut 14,000 jobs came as a shock to the government, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said on Tuesday.

"It is regrettable that the company consulted with [my] department less than seven days ago despite the major secio-economic ramifications of its decision," she told reporters in Pretoria.
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Susan, if you did not see this coming, then you are just as incompetent and useless as we all knew you were.
 
The problem is is even worse when you consider how investors will have to start pulling out, then as the companies start closing operations, more and more talented people will leave our shores.
 
sigh, what an idiot. its simple Susan, if a mine keeps a shaft open thats not profitable they are getting shafted... Workers demanding more ZARS tend to have a negative effect on the profitability of these shafts.
 
And an adjoining story thats just so damned amusing
Johannesburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) plans to negotiate with Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS] to prevent the company from retrenching 14 000 workers, the union said on Tuesday.

"The NUM will engage the company in a bid to save these jobs and appeals on workers to work together to safeguard their own jobs," said NUM general secretary Frans Baleni.

Earlier, Anglo Platinum said it could cut up to 14 000 jobs in a major restructuring at its strike-hit South African operations.

The firm would close four shafts and sell a mine considered unsustainable, reported Agence France-Presse.

"As a result of the proposed changes to the business, a total of up to 14 000 jobs may be affected, 13 000 of which will be in the Rustenburg area," Anglo Platinum said.

The NUM said that Anglo Platinum's decision to cut jobs was "shocking".

"The NUM has repeatedly called upon workers to unite in order to defeat the evil nature of capitalism, which seeks to put profits first and humanity last," said Baleni.
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http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Mining/NUM-calls-for-talks-with-Anglo-20130115

NUM have less then sweet FA idea about basic economics..... and the evil nature of capitalism.. I think we need to pay the NUM management the same amount as their lowest paid member if they think capitalism is evil.
 
NUM is just worried they wont get all these people's monthly contributions now. Oops too late morons
 
so she is upset that they informed her 7 days ago?? how much time does she need to basically still provide no solutions??
7 days is more than sufficient as far as I am concerned, especially considering they already informed her last year that they were experiencing problems.
maybe she should nationalise those shafts/mines and see if she can do a better job!!
 
"The NUM has repeatedly called upon workers to unite in order to defeat the evil nature of capitalism, which seeks to put profits first and humanity last," said Baleni.
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Well at least they let loose what their strategy will be - threaten, as opposed to working together. One of the analysts on Bruce's 702 show today pointed out that there is considerable scope for opportunity in SA if the unions, government and private business were able to resolve their issues and define better engagement processes. As is quite evident, the mining companies have been happy to meet with unions and government, government on the other hand has not been willing to budge on demands, and the unions are not prepared to engage properly.

They are the makers of their own destiny here, and that destiny is straight to the UIF queue for their members...
 
lucifir said:
so she is upset that they informed her 7 days ago?? how much time does she need to basically still provide no solutions??
7 days is more than sufficient as far as I am concerned, especially considering they already informed her last year that they were experiencing problems.
maybe she should nationalise those shafts/mines and see if she can do a better job!!
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What's sadder still is that many of us predicted this scenario many moons ago, yet she had to wait until 7 days ago for someone to inform her of the reality.
 
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