JSE-listed Wesizwe Platinum says about 497 employees across various staff levels and disciplines throughout the business may be affected as the company sets out to restructure its workforce to ensure the "effective and sustainable operation of its business and to achieve a meaningful reduction in operating expenditure".

This follows after the company, which employs 706 people, announced in March that it had decided to halt its previously adopted phased ramp-up approach, including a one-million-tonne-a-year production strategy, and instead pursue a revised development strategy based on a single-stage ramp-up to a 3.5-million-tonne-a-year operation.

"This revised strategy will necessitate a reduction in the number of employees required to establish and sustain the production profile contemplated in the updated business plan," Wesizwe states in a June 4 update to shareholders.

The company will now start with consultations under Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act.

"Through the formal Section 189A consultation process, which will be facilitated under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, the company and all affected stakeholders will jointly consider measures and alternatives aimed at avoiding or mitigating potential retrenchments.

"Notwithstanding this, Bakubung's preliminary assessment is that viable alternatives to workforce reduction are limited. Maintaining the current headcount of 706 employees would not constitute a reasonable or sustainable course of action, as it would fail to address the company's operational challenges and its imperative to implement efficiency measures and restore a trajectory of profitability and growth," the company states.

It points out that, to facilitate meaningful engagement during the consultation process and create an environment that allows all parties to focus on the matters under consultation, the Bakubung mine will undergo a three-week operational shutdown from 18:00 on June 3.