By:Hertha Ekandjo and Matthias Hangala
Around 400 workers of the Rössing Uranium mine will be retrenched come next year, according to the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN).
The company last month began offering its workers voluntary separation packages, until the end of 2026.
This was after the company’s Board of Directors on 22 February, announced, according to the Life of Mine Extension (LoME) recommendations, that the operating model will impact some of the job roles after 2027.
However, the MUN now claims that following engagements with their members, they have been informed that 400 jobs will be lost in 2024.
The 2022 Chamber of Mine Review shows that Rossing employed 873 permanent employees at the end of 2022 and 784 contractors.
Last year the mine made a profit of N$839.7 million from a turnover in 2022 of N$4.839 billion- it also distributed dividends to its shareholders worth N$49.7 million last year.
The Namibian government has a shareholding of 3.42 %.
The annual review has also shown that the life of the mine is 13 years from now (2036)- it has been in operation for over 45 years.
According to the union’s vice president Desley Somseb, the company allegedly only briefed the employees but never engaged the union on this matter even though the union on the other hand sought an audience with the company to have this issue resolved.
“The company also sent through a media statement that they are outsourcing the mining, which is mostly the operations. So, they said that at least 400 workers will be affected. Now it seems to me that they want to outsource that to a contractor,” Somseb told The Villager.
He went on to say that the union is of the view that since the contract labour system is illegal in Namibia, they, therefore, want their members to secure permanent, decent work for decent pay.
“We will not allow Rössing today to close or outsource and give it to a contractor. Our employees must now be retrenched from Rössing and go over to B2Gold and be paid those lesser salaries where there is no job security.”
The mine’s Managing Director Johan Coetzee denied the claim that the workers will be retrenched, stating, however, that LoME does not guarantee the continuation of all current jobs beyond 2026 “as the operating model and workforce structure required for LoME is different.”
The contractor mining solution for LoME is regarded as the most appropriate based on the most resilient financial option and is the only non-value destructive option, Coetzee explained.
“The approval of LoME means the mine will continue to operate for an extended 10 years period until end 2036. The alternative would mean mine closure at the end of 2026, where all Rössing employees would be impacted,” he told The Villager.
Coetzee added that the good news is that employment and other macro-economic benefits will continue to exist at Rössing beyond 2026.
The mine’s voluntary packages, which are aimed at mitigating impact on potential forced retrenchments post 2027, would be affording every impacted employee the opportunity to benefit from the voluntary separation package offered by the company while pursuing other employment opportunities.
According to the MD, since the opening of the voluntary separation process on 1 March 2023, many Rössing employees have applied and have been approved for voluntary separation.
Rössing Uranium’s main core function is uranium, processing ore into uranium oxide for the world’s nuclear market, which fuels the generation of electricity.
During 2022 the mine’s production stood at 2 659 tonnes of uranium oxide raw material.
Recent media reports said Rössing Uranium donated N$50, 000.00 to MUN for the union’s 12th elective congress held from 5-6 March at Ongwediva.
The reports of downsizing at Rössing Uranium come at the time when B2Gold announced the eventual closure of its Otjikoto gold mine which will affect close to 1,000 workers.