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The article was published on the same day that Stats SA released the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) for the second quarter of 2024. Because the QES asks employers about the number of people they employ (instead of surveying households, as is done in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey), the QES is the best measure of sectoral employment trends in the country.
According to the QES employment in the mining sector declined by 6,926 workers to 472,153 in the second quarter. The decline follows mining job losses of 2,696 in the first quarter of 2024. This means relative to the fourth quarter of 2023 mining sector employment declined by 9,622 in the first half of 2024.
While the magnitude of mining job losses so far in 2024 is of great concern, it is a far cry from “tens of thousands”. Retrenchment is always a last-resort response for mining companies after other cost-saving measures prove insufficient to ensure sustainable operations amid notable headwinds.
The fact that almost 10,000 of our colleagues lost their livelihoods in the first two quarters of 2024 once again emphasises the need for a mining-friendly regulatory environment, sustained progress on power availability, and more ambitious targets and urgency to turn around Transnet’s rail and port operational performances.
In addition, we must guard against any measures that have the potential to postpone a recovery in mining production, exploration, investment and employment. Among these, Eskom’s application to increase electricity tariffs by more than 36% from April 2025 comes to mind. Such an increase will be untenable, both for energy-intensive sectors such as mining, and households.
Hugo Pienaar Chief economist, Minerals Council SA
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Protect the mining sector
A recent article claimed the SA mining industry had retrenched “tens of thousands” of workers this year. This is inaccurate (“Old Mutual reports huge outflows as retrenched miners access benefits”, September 26).
The article was published on the same day that Stats SA released the Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) for the second quarter of 2024. Because the QES asks employers about the number of people they employ (instead of surveying households, as is done in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey), the QES is the best measure of sectoral employment trends in the country.
According to the QES employment in the mining sector declined by 6,926 workers to 472,153 in the second quarter. The decline follows mining job losses of 2,696 in the first quarter of 2024. This means relative to the fourth quarter of 2023 mining sector employment declined by 9,622 in the first half of 2024.
While the magnitude of mining job losses so far in 2024 is of great concern, it is a far cry from “tens of thousands”. Retrenchment is always a last-resort response for mining companies after other cost-saving measures prove insufficient to ensure sustainable operations amid notable headwinds.
The fact that almost 10,000 of our colleagues lost their livelihoods in the first two quarters of 2024 once again emphasises the need for a mining-friendly regulatory environment, sustained progress on power availability, and more ambitious targets and urgency to turn around Transnet’s rail and port operational performances.
In addition, we must guard against any measures that have the potential to postpone a recovery in mining production, exploration, investment and employment. Among these, Eskom’s application to increase electricity tariffs by more than 36% from April 2025 comes to mind. Such an increase will be untenable, both for energy-intensive sectors such as mining, and households.
Hugo Pienaar
Chief economist, Minerals Council SA
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Old Mutual reports huge outflows as retrenched miners access benefits
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Old Mutual reports huge outflows as retrenched miners access benefits
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