North West Premier sends a warning to the President

North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi has warned that if the national government does not urgently intervene to address crippling structural problems, thousands more will lose their jobs in an already struggling mining sector.

This will particularly hit the mining heartland of the North West, a province already sitting with a 54.7% expanded unemployment rate

In his opening remarks on his meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cabinet, Mokgosi said that recent interactions with mining executives confirmed that, without intervention from government, unemployment will continue to grow.

“I had a meeting with the CEO of Glencore who indicated that if there is no intervention by national government in this regard, over five thousand people will lose their jobs,” he said.

“These job losses will have a negative multiplier effect on the economy of our province. Needless to say, the impact will be extended to labour sending provinces like the Eastern Cape… drastic steps are needed to stem this,” he told the President.

A wave of retrenchments is sweeping through South Africa, dealing a severe blow to an economy heavily reliant on platinum group metals (PGMs) and ferrochrome.

The Department of Employment and Labour has pledged UIF support and retraining programs, but critics call these inadequate without addressing root causes like logistics bottlenecks.

Mining, which contributed 6% to GDP and 14% to exports—peaking at 21% of total economic production in 1980—has been in decline for decades.

Structural challenges are mounting. Eskom’s rolling blackouts and soaring electricity tariffs, combined with Transnet’s failing rail and port systems, high input costs, and deteriorating infrastructure, are eroding competitiveness and squeezing margins.

Illegal mining and criminal networks, such as the “construction mafia,” further disrupt operations. In response, companies are pursuing automation and consolidation to reduce costs.

The sector shed 13,000 jobs in 2024 and roughly three thousand in the first quarter of 2025.

Companies slashing jobs

Major players including Glencore, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), and Sibanye-Stillwater have announced significant job cuts this year, citing weak commodity prices, soaring energy costs, and operational challenges.

ArcelorMittal South Africa is shutting down its long steel operations in Newcastle and Vereeniging by 30 September, cutting over 3,000 jobs after years of losses driven by low steel prices, cheap imports, high energy costs, poor rail infrastructure, and weak demand.

Attempts to secure government support failed, sealing the closure.

Glencore has begun a Section 189 retrenchment process at its Rustenburg and Emalahleni operations, citing high electricity costs, weak commodity prices, and failing rail infrastructure.

While redeployment and voluntary separation are being considered, unions including the National Union of Mineworkers and Solidarity warn that over 3,000 jobs are at immediate risk. The consultation process is ongoing.

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has been hard hit by a roughly 35% drop in the PGM basket price in 2023, with 2024 profits declining 40–52%.

In February 2024, the company began consultations to retrench about 3,700 employees as part of a R5 billion cost-saving plan.

Impala Platinum (Implats) announced in April 2024 that up to 3,900 jobs—around 9% of its workforce—could be lost across Rustenburg, Bafokeng, and Marula operations and its head office.

Sibanye-Stillwater initially planned more than 4,000 layoffs in its South African PGM shafts, but after consultations with unions, reduced the figure while still cutting over 2,000 jobs through voluntary separation, early retirement, and natural attrition.

Urgent reform needed

Hugo Pienaar, Chief Economist at the Minerals Council, emphasised that South Africa’s mining sector needs a supportive policy and regulatory environment to unlock its full potential.

In his piece titled Business-friendly policy environment needed to arrest decline in mining employment, he said said that key priorities include:

• Establishing “a critical minerals strategy that encourages more exploration for minerals in South Africa;
• Launching the online mining cadastre system by mid‑2025; and
• Amending the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) to reduce the regulatory burden and promote industry growth.

He also called for “efficient, transparent administration of prospecting and mining rights by the DMPR and other government departments to expedite licensing processes, reduce red tape, and boost investor sentiment.”

Pienaar stressed that these measures are critical for the sector to capitalise on global demand for critical minerals and to ensure that both the energy-intensive precious metals sector and logistics-dependent bulk mining industry can thrive.

Minerals Council CEO Mzila Mthenjane emphasises that mining remains South Africa’s backbone. “With the right policies, we can protect jobs and drive growth.”

Reflective of a broader crisis

James Lorimer, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on Mineral and Petroleum Resources said that “investment into South African mining is hampered by ANC mining policy.”

He said that South Africa needs “investment-friendly mining legislation” and regulation that would involve a wholesale rewriting of mining law.

To do so, Lorimer said that the “pervasive effects of BEE” on this sector must be ended to facilitate investment.

“Investment-friendly laws, allied with a cleaning up of the incompetent and often corrupt department that administers those rules, would open the way for rapid growth of the mining industry.”

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said that the widespread job losses in the sector “reflects the broader crisis of South Africa’s industrial base.”

“Rising electricity costs, collapsing rail and port infrastructure, cheap imports from China, and the state’s refusal to implement meaningful protections for local producers have driven the sector into the ground.”

“The result is the loss of strategic capacity, further dependence on foreign imports, and the obliteration of jobs at a time when unemployment is already at historic highs.”

The EFF also took aim at the government for the recent job losses noting that just before the national elections last year, the Presidency deliberately delayed announcements of job cuts under the guise of “finding solutions” for companies like ArcelorMittal.

“Workers were fed false hope so that the ruling party could mask its economic failures and secure votes,” said the EFF.

“Now, after the elections have passed, government conveniently allows these industries to collapse and workers are to be thrown onto the streets.”