Oliphant accuses mines of avoiding training fund for axed workers
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant says mining companies are not making use of the government’s training layoff scheme, which has a fund of more than R2bn to up-skill retrenched workers. In an exclusive interview with Business Day, Oliphant said mining companies were avoiding having to declare their finances to the Labour Department and disclose the real reasons behind retrenchments. The Commission for Conciliation and Arbitration said it had received 36 retrenchment referrals by mining companies since the beginning of 2017, while the Chamber of Mines places overall job losses in the industry at 70,000 since 2012. The training layoff scheme was established shortly after the 2008 global recession as companies shut down due to economic pressure. However, the scheme has recorded little success and the minister blamed this on the intransigent attitude of business. She said even the services provided by Productivity SA to struggling companies were not being taken up. "When we look at the m...
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