The delay in appointing a buyer for the Orkney mine is meanwhile causing tremendous socio-economic problems for the communities in Orkney and Klerksdorp. Trade unions are currently supporting the unemployed workers by means of a feeding scheme, but this is only a short-term solution. This coming Friday, the local committee of the Pamodzi Orkney Emergency Project will again hand out 1 000 food parcels to workers in need.

Both Solidarity and Uasa have warned that the longer the sale of the asset is delayed, the more the infrastructure of the mine will deteriorate and the more capital will be required to put the mine back into operation. In addition, the mine is constantly losing skilled employees because many employees are taking up jobs at other mines.

The trade unions believe that the Pamodzi liquidators appointed in Orkney have broken their own best practice for the formal bidding process. This means that the Orkney liquidation could now be drawn out for even longer than the liquidation process a while back of the Buffelsfontein mine. It appears that the liquidators do not understand the workings of a mine and also do not understand its unique requirements.

Solidarity and Uasa have requested that Pamodzi’s Orkney liquidators resume talks with Simmers to determine whether the sale transaction can be salvaged. The Pamodzi liquidators keep on implying that they have a big buyer lined up. The time has come for them to put their cards and guarantees on the table if this is indeed the case. The trade unions are also demanding that Standard Bank, who has to ensure a transparent process, does its bit to advance the process and lend credibility to it.