Jobs the centre-piece of Sibanye-Lonmin merger scrutiny, says Lonmin CEO
Plans to cut around 13,000 jobs are likely to be the biggest obstacle to miner Sibanye-Stillwater winning South African regulatory approval for its proposed takeover of troubled rival Lonmin, the CEO of Lonmin told Reuters. However, Ben Magara said South Africa’s Competition Commission, which has a mandate to protect employment as well as promote competition, should focus on the jobs being saved rather than those that will be lost. "When I look at the reality of the industry it’s ‘do I lose 12,000 or do I lose 33,000?’. Those are the tough choices that you actually have to execute otherwise you lose 33,000 jobs," he said in an interview. "As much as there may be a likelihood for job losses, the key is also to focus on the jobs we are saving because if we don’t do that we would lose all of them." Sibanye-Stillwater said on Thursday it would buy Lonmin for $385-million to make it the world’s No.2 platinum producer, and announced plans to cut about 12,600 jobs over the next three years...
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