Mozambican miners to be dismissed in South Africa

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Mozambican miners to be dismissed in South Africa

2:40 CAT | 07 Mar 2016

Redundancies announced by the South African mining sector for the coming months will necessarily affect Mozambicans, and the government says that it is taking measures for the reintegration of returning workers.

According to the South African Chamber of Mines, with nearly 80 percent of mining companies not generating profits due to the fall in price of platinum and gold in international markets, about 32,000 jobs will go in the coming months.

João Almeida, Mozambique Labour Management Services representative in South Africa says: “We have not been officially notified, either by [labour recruitment agency] TEBA or by the Chamber of Mines.”

There are about 39,000 Mozambican workers In South Africa, mostly working in the mining sector. According to the Chamber of Mines, the mining sector has lost 47,000 jobs since 2012, affecting thousands of Mozambican families.

Speaking in parliament recently, the South African Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, argued that, last year, the government managed to save the jobs of about 16,000 miners, but admitted that the scenario remains daunting.

“Jobs in South Africa will be lost, and not only by South Africans. But compared with other countries, we are the best at managing the redundancy process,” Zwane said.

Asked about contingency plans for the reintegration of Mozambican miners laid off in South Africa, João de Almeida said that the Mozambique government is currently making a survey of Mozambicans working in South Africa, especially in the mines, in order to create a database. “And if there are job opportunities in Mozambique, we will ask them to apply,” Zwane said.

While uncertainty among miners in South Africa keeps growing, the Mozambican Minister of Labour and Social Security, Vitoria Diogo, withdrew the work permit of South African Johannes de Waal, the Information Agency of Mozambique announced earlier this week

De Waal, who worked as an instructor for the Capital Outsourcing Group in Maputo, was charged with ill-treatment and racist attitudes towards Mozambican workers.

Mozambique Television TVM reported De Waal as acknowledging that he was “aggressive and insulting”, but his admission did not soften the authorities’ decision.

Source: Deutsche Welle Moçambique