Anxieties about jobs heightened this week when the news broke that AngloGold, the world's third-biggest gold mining company, was shutting the unprofitable Savuka section of TauTona in Carletonville near Johannesburg and putting on care and maintenance Kopanang mine in Klerksdorp. "All my hard work has failed if we get retrenched. Getting laid off means going back home to Libode in the Eastern Cape to a house of hunger," said Bafundi Seku, a worker at AngloGold Ashanti's TauTona mine. "I have a two-year-old child and my unemployed wife is pregnant. I support seven people, including myself, because I lost a sister, who left behind three children." Seku, 42, has been working at AngloGold for a year. Along with 8499 of his peers - a third of the mine's entire workforce - he faces the possibility of losing his job. This week, AngloGold said it was shutting down the two unprofitable operations that are nearing the end of their lives. The 59-year-old TauTona, whose shafts reach depths clos...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.