South Africa / Amplats shafts closure could lead to the loss of almost 14,000 jobs

Anglo American Platinum has said it will cease production at four mine shafts in the Rustenburg region of South Africa, which could lead to the loss of almost 14,000 jobs.

The world’s biggest platinum producer said lower demand for the precious metal and higher costs meant the shafts were unprofitable.

Amplats said it proposed to create 14,000 jobs to balance the cuts.

Last October, the company fired 12,000 workers after a strike over wages.

It said at the time that weeks of illegal strikes had cost it 700m rand ($80m; £50m) in revenue. The workers were reinstated three weeks later following negotiations with unions.

A number of South Africa’s miners were hit by a wave of wildcat strikes in which miners and officials were killed.

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via BBC News – South African miner Amplats closes shafts and cuts jobs.