The ANC on Wednesday called for dialogue with the mining sector over looming job cuts in the industry.

Zizi Kodwa‚ the party’s head of the presidency‚ said in a statement that the ANC was “emphatically against any retrenchments in both private and public sector”.

“The mining sector is an industrial development backbone upon which our economy relies‚” he said.

“Over the years‚ the mining sector has been shedding jobs and the recent pronouncement of more than 50‚000 purported job losses across the board is shocking as every mineworker benefits seven or more family members‚” added Kodwa.

He said it was unsustainable that mineworkers continued to bear the brunt of losses in the sector as “[losses were] not necessarily a function of productivity but [an] historical and irrational management decision”.

He said legislation enjoined all parties in the sector to urgently convene a dialogue aimed at finding alternative solutions to the impasse.

Trade union federation Cosatu came out strongly on Tuesday against retrenchments‚ both in the mining sector and in government where there is a purported plan to sack 30‚000 employees.

It warned the ANC that it would not vote for the party in light of the planned job cuts‚ which have been denied by Public Service and Administration Minister‚ Ayanda Dlodlo.