Sibanye Gold also announced it will restructure operations at its Cooke and Beatrix mines, a move that could affect 7,400 of its employees and 3,000 contractors.

Despite the fact that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has been implicated in the Gupta family scandal related to undue political influence in the South African government by the Oakbay owners, the labour movement wants both him and President Jacob Zuma to intervene as soon as possible.

Yet, Zwane held a meeting last Friday with Sibanye chief executive, Neal Froneman, and the only thing he said following the encounter was that he was “concerned by the retrenchment announcements” and that he wanted stakeholders “to be more responsible in how these planned retrenchments are announced.”

NUM, a union with more than 300,000 affiliate members, dubs the current situation “a jobs bloodbath” carried out as a political move against workers. The organization is also worried about the possibility of illegal mining activities proliferating across the country as people find themselves unemployed.

NUM strongly condemns blackmails unleashed by Sibanye Gold, AngloGold Ashanti and Bokoni Platinum mine in announcing massive retrenchments pic.twitter.com/g1y6p4M7Tq — NUM (@NUM_Media) August 3, 2017