NUM Highveld Region is to embark on a protest march tomorrow against Seriti resources’ impulsive decision to retrenchment workers

Media Alert, 06 October 2024

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Highveld Region together with the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the alliance partners - the South African Communist Party and the African National Congress - will on tomorrow Monday 07 October 2024 Thursday embark on massive protest action against SERITI Resources’ imminent retrenchments of 1 143 permanent employees at various company’s operations.

SERITI Resources has been on a wild streak of Section 189 notices which will leave a staggering 1 143 workers out of jobs.

It has served retrenchment notices to employees at its operations at Middleburg Mines, Khutala, Klipspruit, Kriel and MMS.

What is beyond shocking is the company’s replacement of permanent, highly skilled employees with contractors to fulfil its main objective of exploitation and to maximise profit.

To impulsively embark on a jobs bloodbath at the expense of hundreds of workers who have families to feed is totally unacceptable and vicious, especially in this current strained economy.

As the NUM Highveld Region, we view this as rapacious capitalism barbarism that must be stopped as a matter of urgency. If SERITI Resources is unable to run operations that have had successful business models for years and boomed through the blood, sweat and tears of the very workers they plan to discard, it should seek assistance instead of taking ill-conceived decisions.

The NUM Highveld Region is also deeply worried about the posture taken by Eskom rewarding coal contracts to truck owners with a high price as opposed to SERITI that is just next door of Duvha Power Station.

With regard to this, the NUM Highveld Region does not rule out the possibility of bringing the public protector to investigate this malfeasance.

The NUM is also worried about the silence of the Department of Mineral Resources. We suspect elements of capture hence the conspicuous by the department.

The protest march is planned as follows:

Date                      : 07 October 2024

Time                       : 10am

Gathering point  : Witbank’s King George Park

Destination           : Witbank’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy at Saveways

For more information, please conduct:

Bizzah Motubatse, NUM Highveld Regional Chairperson, 082 264 6533.

Thapelo Malekutu, NUM Highveld Deputy Regional Secretary 063 601 9005

The National Union of Mineworkers
7 Rissik Street.
Cnr Frederick Johannesburg
Tel: 011 377 2111 Cell: 083 809 3257
Twitter: @Num_Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/NUM/10086002340216