Samancor issues Section 189 notice covering 2,403 chrome smelter jobs

Samancor Chrome issued a Section 189 retrenchment consultation notice on 6 March 2026 covering the majority of its 2,403 employees across its smelting and corporate operations, warning that accumulated, unsustainable standing costs over the previous 12 months had made current staffing levels unaffordable.

Six smelters affected

The notice covered staff at Dikwena Chrome, Ferrometals, Middelburg Ferrochrome, TC Smelter, Tubatse Alloy and Tubatse Ferrochrome, as well as Samancor's corporate offices. "The ferrochrome industry is facing significant challenges, particularly owing to the cost of electricity, which has placed considerable strain on Samancor's financial position," the company said, adding that earlier cost-cutting measures — natural attrition, ending contractor arrangements and suspending performance bonuses — had not been enough.

A last resort after other measures failed

The Section 189 process triggers a minimum 60-day consultation period with affected employees and trade unions before any retrenchments can be finalised, giving both sides a window to negotiate alternatives. Samancor's move followed years of rising Eskom tariffs that had already pushed the number of operating South African ferrochrome smelters down from a peak of 66 to just 11.

Part of a wider crisis

Samancor's retrenchment notice landed as South Africa's ferrochrome sector as a whole was lobbying Eskom and the National Energy Regulator for emergency electricity relief, warning that without a lower tariff, further job losses across the industry — which supports up to 185,000 jobs directly and indirectly — were inevitable. Samancor alone supports around 2,230 direct jobs and 2,665 indirect ones, plus nearly 4,000 permanent mining jobs across Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West.

What happened next

The consultation deadline repeatedly extended as Eskom worked through the tariff process, and Samancor ultimately halted its retrenchment plans after Nersa approved a 62c/kWh concessionary electricity tariff in May 2026 — turning what began as a threat to thousands of jobs into a reprieve contingent on the new, deeply discounted power price holding for the industry's benefit.

Sources

• Engineering News: Samancor Chrome issues retrenchment consultation notice for the majority of its 2,403 employees, 06 Mar 2026

Photo: Ferrochrome alloy of the type produced at South African smelters such as Samancor's. Lamoren, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.