SABC News writes that employees of Galaxy Gold Mine, also known as Agnes Gold Mine, in Barberton, Mpumalanga, are still protesting inside the company’s premises over imminent retrenchments. They allege that the company has informed them that it will retrench about 70 of the 306 mineworkers due to low commodity prices. One concerned employee who did not want to be named blames the employer for not providing them with proper working tools.
“What they told us in the meeting, they say we are not giving them the good production. That is why they want to retrench us, while the problem is only on their side. Because they don’t want to buy the quality machines, they don’t want to buy quality material and they don’t even want to hire the skilled people to do the job.” “But when you are talking to them, they say the company doesn’t have money to buy the quality machines. We want to hear that nobody is going to be suspended and nobody is going to be retrenched,” adds the concerned employee.