JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng — Major Eskom coal supplier Seriti Power has officially initiated a Section 189 consultation process, placing up to 780 jobs at risk and marking a critical phase in the ongoing Seriti Power job cuts. The potential retrenchments affect several operational sites closely linked to Eskom’s power-generation needs, prompting immediate engagement between company leadership and labor representatives to explore viable mitigation strategies.
Seriti Power, led by mining veteran Mike Teke, has emphasized that the consultation process is designed to actively explore ways to avoid or reduce actual job losses. According to company leadership, possible alternatives currently under review include the redeployment of affected employees to other parts of the business, voluntary severance packages, and voluntary early retirement options.
However, the proposed retrenchments have drawn sharp concern from labor representatives. Tshilidzi Mathavha, Regional Secretary for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Highveld Region, stated that the union serves as an economic defensive organization committed to protecting its members at all times. Mathavha noted that the Section 189 process inherently places the union on the back foot, as the legislation primarily grants the employer the right to propose operational changes, leaving the union to focus on mitigating factors and job preservation.
According to Mathavha, the retrenchments are symptomatic of a broader economic policy shift, highlighting that the country has effectively withdrawn funding from the coal sector. He warned that business entities within the coal industry are increasingly adopting a new business model reliant on third-party service providers to maximize profits at the expense of permanent workers, thereby fostering an unstable labor environment.
The NUM leader revealed that the retrenchment proposal was directly informed by Eskom’s directive for Seriti Power to reduce the coal tonnages supplied to its power stations. Mathavha characterized this dynamic as a strategic move by capital to dismantle the coal sector in favor of green and clean energy transitions, cautioning that such shifts could subject vulnerable workers to poverty if not carefully managed. He emphasized that resolving this issue will require a long-term battle involving broader national labor structures.
Despite the grim outlook, there has been some initial mitigation in the numbers. Mathavha disclosed that Seriti Power’s initial projection estimated up to 1,043 jobs would be lost. However, internal business reviews subsequently identified approximately 263 positions that remain available, reducing the total number of at-risk roles to 780.
The NUM plans to aggressively explore this specific area to ensure affected members are placed into these available roles. Furthermore, while voluntary separation packages (VSP) and voluntary early retirement will be utilized as mitigating factors, the union intends to prioritize these options for workers who are already close to the natural exit age of employment, thereby safeguarding younger or more vulnerable workers from immediate unemployment.
As the Section 189 consultations progress, both Seriti Power management and the NUM remain locked in critical negotiations, with the outcome poised to significantly impact the local mining workforce and the broader coal supply chain supporting Eskom’s national energy grid.
