The mine’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has been relieved of his duties. Simelane who is the former CEO of Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) was hired at Maloma in February last year after a rigorous recruitment process. Simelane was hoping to sign a new contract after the one he signed in February last year was mutually terminated in May this year together with those of other employees of the company. Simelane had allegedly already signed the contract and was waiting for his principals to do the same. Simelane is the third executive management member to be shed by the mine after the Chief Financial Officer Chris Mlotsa and the Human Resources Director Mzwandile Dlamini. Simelane is the 80th employee to be let go by the mine which is undergoing a restructuring exercise. These changes follow changes at board level which saw Chancellor House Holdings selling it’s 50% shareholding to Mine X. In an interview with Simelane, he confirmed that he has left the company and admitted that the move was unexpected. The company’s Human Resources Manager Edwin Mbingo confirmed that the board has decided to let go of Simelane, and the board is still to appoint an acting CEO. Mbingo added that 80 employees were retrenched of which 36 were work related retrenchments and they are currently being handled by an occupational doctor. Mbingo said the company has suspended the double shift working system following the downsizing of the staff as a cost cutting measure. Worth noting is that the mine made a profit of E13,5 million in the 2020 financial year and according to Simelane, this could have been E20 million. In 2019 before Simelane took over the mine, it made a loss of E5 million before Simelane came a drove the turn around of the mine.
Sourced From: Times of Eswatini 15 July 2021
Jul 20 2021 3:45PM