27 May 2025

MEDIA RELEASE

SUMMARY: The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has called on the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources to intervene in what it describes as a dangerous and destabilising act of inequality at Sibanye-Stillwater. Workers at Sibanye’s Rustenburg and Kroondal operations will receive nothing in 2025 under the Employee Share Ownership Programme (ESOP), while other operations are benefiting. AMCU has condemned this double standard, citing regulatory and moral obligations under the MPRDA and Mining Charter, and accusing Sibanye of undermining the transformation agenda.

 AMCU has made it clear that Sibanye-Stillwater continues to perpetuate inequality within its platinum operations through unjust ESOP structures that divide workers and threaten labour stability. While the company made nearly R10 billion in profit for the 2024 financial year, thousands of workers at Rustenburg Platinum Mines (SRPM) and Kroondal are receiving no ESOP payout this year. This, while in the previous financial year workers were paid out when a profit of R5 billion was declared.

This is because the ESOP model used at SRPM and Kroondal is a dividend-only scheme, which only triggers if the Board declares a dividend. For 2025, no dividend was declared. Meanwhile, the model used at other operations,includes a profit-sharing mechanism, which does not depend on dividend declarations or cash availability.

“This is not a technical issue. It’s a choice. And it’s a dangerous one”, said AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa. “When a company posts billions in profits and tells certain workers they get nothing because of a boardroom formula, while others are rewarded, that sends the worst possible message to those on the ground”, he said.

In 2024, over 400 workers at Sibanye’s Kroondal operations downed tools and staged a protest underground and on the surface due to their exclusion from previous ESOP benefits. AMCU intervened directly and defused the situation after securing a commitment from Sibanye-Stillwater to harmonise ESOP structures across its operations.

“Instead of keeping their word, management is now hiding behind accounting definitions of ‘distributable free cash flow’ to explain why these workers will get nothing,” said Mathunjwa.

According to audited financials for 2024:

• SRPM recorded a profit of R10.1 billion, but due to capital adjustments and Board decisions, declared no dividend.
• Kroondal, now fully merged into SRPM, posted a loss but is covered by the same trust.
• Meanwhile, qualifying workers at other Sibanye operations are receiving payments exceeding R28 000 per worker in 2025 under a profit-share model that bypasses dividend declarations.

“The Board cannot pick and choose who is empowered and who is not,” said Mathunjwa. “This kind of selective implementation violates both the MPRDA [Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act] and the Mining Charter, which require consistent and equitable transformation”, he added.

“Sibanye is showing its true colours now. This is what labour will be facing under this GNU [Government of National Unity] when key transformation matters are being challenged”, said Mathunjwa. “It is clear that the transformation agenda is being undermined”, he added.

In a joint letter dated 27 May 2025, AMCU and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) requested an urgent meeting with Minister Gwede Mantashe to address this matter and avoid another protest.

“This is how we threaten industrial peace, not because workers are unreasonable, but because they are being denied what they were promised under transformation law,” Mathunjwa said. “We will not allow our members to be disrespected and divided like this”, Mathunjwa concluded.

The Union has engaged with Sibanye and it is monitoring the situation closely. It will be convening mass meeting with its members today to get a mandate from members.

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For more information or media interviews, contact AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa.