Employment
Wits Gold complies fully with the South African Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act, which are the chief pieces of legislation that govern labour relations in South Africa. The Company also ensures that its employment practices are in line with the more fundamental tenets of human rights as enshrined in South Africa’s Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Wits Gold recognises employment equity as both a moral and business imperative and is committed to providing a workplace that is based on mutual respect, fairness, integrity, non-discrimination and equal opportunity at all levels, whether the employees at the Company number few or many.
This commitment extends to every aspect of employee experience including recruitment, promotion, employment benefits, training and development and the conditions of service during employment.
Wits Gold offers an equal rate of pay to male and female employees of equal experience. Wits Gold does not employ individuals below the age of 18 years of age and condemns the use of forced or compulsory labour.
As detailed in the Social and Labour plans that are being prepared for submission to the DMR in support of our applications for a New Order Mining Right in the southern Free State goldfield, Wits Gold is committed to sourcing as much of its workforce as possible from the communities local to the Free State. Only in the case of specialist skills requirements will we consider candidates from further afield.
The Wits Gold workforce is currently too small to be unionised, and the Company currently engages in its own direct employee consultations.
The Company has used several contractors and suppliers to undertake various exploration activities and will continue to do so when it comes to various aspects of future mine development and operation. As part of these contracts, service providers are expected to subscribe to the same fundamental principles of labour relations and human rights.
Wits Gold recognises the skills shortage that faces the mining industry in South Africa as a risk to the long term sustainability of its business and the industry as a whole. The Company has a number of training and development principles and initiatives in place to address this challenge and optimise the performance and skill levels of its employees.
These take the form of financial assistance, various forms of employee training courses and on-the-job mentoring and training opportunities for young students to work on site or on discipline-specific projects.
Ad hoc assessments will be conducted on site by management to ensure that employees are sufficiently trained and equipped for the work they are required to undertake.
Occupational health and safety
Wits Gold respects the rights of every employee, including those of its contractors and service providers, to work in a safe and healthy environment, with sufficient support systems and communication channels to ensure that this commitment is established in practice.
The Company has a safety, health and environmental (SHE) policy that details this objective and safety talks and risk assessments are conducted daily on site.
Annual medical assessments are performed on every employee working on site and are only eligible for employment with a medical competency certificate.
Noise induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) has been identified as the most common occupational health risks faced on site, as all of the activity on site has been focused on exploration drilling. Employees are specifically tested for NIHL during their annual health assessments and are provided with the necessary PPE.
Noise levels are monitored closely to ensure that there is no impact on nearby communities.