SABC News reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has raised concerns about impending job cuts at mining giant Anglo American Platinum (Amplats). Amplats has finalised its retrenchment process which is expected to affect 3 700 jobs across its South African operations. The retrenchments are part of the company’s efforts to mitigate the financial impact of declining platinum group metal prices, which have significantly reduced profit margins.

The job cuts represent about 17% of Amplats’ workforce, with the most significant impact at Amandelbult in Limpopo. Khathu Ramufhufhi, NUM’s Regional Coordinator at Anglo American Platinum in Polokwane, Limpopo, expressed the union’s worries: “As NUM, we are very worried about the impact of these job losses because our view is that one job loss is one too many. The job losses do not only impact the employees retrenched; they’ve got a wider impact on the larger society, on the larger economy.”

Listen to the full SABC News interview with Khathu Ramufhufhi, NUM’s Regional Coordinator at Anglo American Platinum in Polokwane below: