Wesizwe’s core project is the Bakubung Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, North West Province, on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex.
Wesizwe Platinum (Wesizwe) said Thursday its Bakubung Platinum Minerals project had begun a Section 189A consultation process about a restructuring that might result in 497 retrenchments, or some 70% of the staff.
The start of the process followed a board decision to discontinue the company's 1 million tons per annum (Mtpa) production strategy, with immediate effect. The mine’s management added in a statement to the JSE New Services that operations at the mine would be suspended for three weeks to “facilitate meaningful engagement during the consultation process and create an environment that allows all parties to focus on the matters under consultation.”
In place of the 1 Mtpa strategy, the company now plans a revised development strategy based on a single-stage ramp-up of a 3.5 Mtpa operation. This revised strategy; however, would necessitate a reduction in the number of employees required to establish and sustain the production profile contemplated in the updated business plan, the company said.
“As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance operational efficiency, Bakubung has determined that a restructuring of its workforce is necessary to ensure effective and sustainable operation of its business and to meaningfully reduce operating expenditure,” Wesizwe’s management said. Affected stakeholders would jointly consider measures and alternatives to avoid or mitigate retrenchments, but a preliminary assessment was that viable alternatives to workforce reduction were “limited”.
