A bleak outlook for smelter amid looming retrenchments

A BLEAK start to the New Year is looming for hundreds of workers at Transalloys, South Africa's last remaining manganese smelter, after the company issued a Section 189 notice warning of possible large-scale retrenchments that could take effect within weeks.

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The notice places approximately 600 direct jobs at risk and threatens an estimated 7,000 livelihoods linked to the smelter and the broader eMalahleni (formerly Witbank) economy through contractors, suppliers, and dependent businesses.

Transalloys chief executive Konstantin Sadovnik said the decision was unavoidable under current operating conditions. "We regret placing this level of uncertainty on our employees and their families at this time, but the ongoing lack of clarity around our operating environment leaves us with no responsible alternative," he said.

Describing the announcement as "extraordinarily difficult" so close to the New Year, Sadovnik warned that the business can no longer sustain operations in its current form. "The company cannot sustain operations presently. Energy is our biggest cost driver," he said. "At current NERSA-approved tariff levels, we are competing against international smelters whose electricity costs are roughly half of ours. That gap makes sustained operation impossible."