NUM Western Cape Region to March Against Black Mountain's Exploitative Outsourcing and Looming Retrenchments

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Western Cape Region will hold a protest march on Thursday, July 17, 2025, at Black Mountain in the Northern Cape. The NUM is taking a resolute stand against the egregious and exploitative outsourcing model being aggressively pursued by Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) and its subsidiary, Black Mountain Mine, which threatens mass retrenchments.

The NUM views this policy as nothing less than economic sabotage, social vandalism, and modern-day corporate colonialism. It reflects an arrogant disregard for workers and communities by VZI Chairman Anil Agarwal.

VZI formally informed the NUM of this draconian outsourcing agenda on December 20, 2017. Despite our firm and principled objections, VZI reaffirmed its disastrous decision on January 30, 2025. The NUM's position remains unchanged: we outright reject this anti-worker, anti-community, and anti-development agenda. This outsourcing model is not about efficiency; it's about retrenchment, exploitation, and profit maximization at the expense of workers and the dignity of their labor.

The Devastating Impact of VZI's "International Best Practice"

We wish to remind the public what this so-called "international best practice" truly entails for our members and the surrounding communities:

• Erosion of Workers' Benefits: Workers currently hold a 5% stake in the company through the Employee Profit Sharing Scheme. Outsourcing will strip them of this hard-won equity and prevent them from accruing vital retirement savings due to the unstable nature of contract work.

• Loss of Family Homes: Employees housed in company-owned homes – many for over 30 years – face eviction. The NUM was in advanced negotiations to secure ownership of these homes, a historic process that outsourcing will abruptly cancel.

• Destruction of Pension Security: The instability of contract work makes long-term retirement planning impossible. Our members will be cast into old-age poverty.

• Social and Economic Instability: This model has already failed in the region, leading to an influx of vulnerable migrant labor, homelessness, and the uncontrolled expansion of informal settlements, which have become breeding grounds for poverty and crime.

• Wage Regression and Exploitation: Workers employed by contractors are forced to start from entry-level wages, even with years of experience. This is economic violence.

• Deepening Social Ills: The outsourcing system has demonstrably deepened poverty, homelessness, domestic instability, and crime. VZI's "cost reduction" narrative is directly leading to the uncontrollable establishment of informal areas, which become black spots of poverty and suffering.

• Uncontrolled Retrenchments: VZI and its contractors have implemented reckless retrenchments over the past four years, driving up unemployment and desperation in the area.

VZI itself confirmed that the mine has a lifespan of 30 to 40 years, with the Deeps section projected at 18 more months. It is therefore unjustifiable to destroy long-term local livelihoods for the sake of short-term cost cutting and shareholder greed. The reasons provided by VZI—such as faster project start-ups, specialized teams, and avoiding fleet purchases—are thinly veiled excuses to offload responsibility, maximize profits, and wash their hands of long-term social impact. This model directly fuels social illnesses like alcoholism and crime.

A Call for Genuine Engagement, Not Boardroom Dictatorship

Our position is clear: if outsourcing is allowed, the people of the region will be severely impacted, leading to reduced development and deteriorating living conditions.

Furthermore, VZI has shut the door on constructive engagement with its own workers. The NUM requested a meeting with Chairman Anil Agarwal and the entire VZI board, a request that was arrogantly declined, with management insisting the decision was made in London. Such decisions are now imposed without consultation, without accountability, and without shame. We wish to emphasize that this is not just about mining operations; it is about workers, their dignity, and the well-being of their families. The NUM remains open to any genuine engagement, not that of a boardroom dictatorship.

This outsourcing model is a direct threat to the socio-economic stability of our society and the country at large. As NUM, we view this as a clear form of economic and social sabotage by a company that prioritizes profits over the wellbeing of its workforce.

The NUM calls on all stakeholders, including government, employers, and civil society, to acknowledge the severity of this crisis and work collaboratively to find sustainable solutions that prioritize job security and the protection of workers' livelihoods.

March Details:
• Date: Thursday, July 17, 2025
• Assemble Point: Pella Street Bus Stop (march will proceed to the Green Office to hand over memorandum to Black Mountain (PTY) management)
• Time: 15:00
Outsourcing will not pass unchallenged!

For more detailed information, please contact:

• Isaac Sopazi, NUM Western Cape Regional Chairperson: 083 272 5081
• Mlondolozi Limaphi, NUM Western Cape Regional Secretary: 073518 3455

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