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The Competition Tribunal has given mining house Sibanye Stillwater the green light to merge with Lonmin.
The tribunal – following the three day hearings held last week where presentations were made by organisations opposition the transaction – approved the merger with a number of conditions, including the placing of a moratorium on retrenchments related to the merger for six months.
This after both companies alluded to the tribunal that their assessment indicated that between 10 156 and 13 444 jobs may have to be shed because of the merger.
“After giving due consideration to this undertaking, the tribunal is unable to determine the exact number of merger specific retrenchments which may on any construction be between 885 and 13 344.
“In order to protect what would be the merger specific job losses, whether this number be 885, 1831, 10 156 or 13 344, our view is that Sibanye should be given an opportunity to do an in-depth assessment of the operational requirements of the target firm and to consult with all relevant stakeholders which include trade unions.
“Accordingly, it is our view that the public interest will be best served if a moratorium were placed on all retrenchments for a period of 6 months from the implementation date,” part of the statement issued by the tribunal read.
Among the conditions were that Sibanye would honour pre-existing Social Labour Plan (SLP) commitments of Lonmin.
The tribunal also said it would issue details of the conditions related to SLPs at a later stage.
During the hearings, the tribunal heard from the department of mineral resources how Lonmin has had a mediocre compliance of its SLPs, including building three houses instead of 5 500 in a period of five years.
Read: Lonmin gets lashed over poor social responsibility record
The parties who opposed the merger are the Mining Forum of SA, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the Marikana women’s group Sikhala Sonke, and the Greater Lonmin Community.
The Competition Commission, which refers matters to the tribunal, evaluated the transaction and concluded that it was unlikely to raise significant competition concerns.
The commission, at the time, emphasised that the merger could result in 3 188 jobs being shed, and a further 10 156 jobs being lost after the transaction.
It also raised concerns about the impact that this would have on the Bapo Ba Mogale community and local small businesses.
It recommended that the tribunal approve the merger, subject to conditions aimed at addressing these concerns.
