The country's mining sector employs about 523‚000 workers - far fewer than the 839‚000 it employed in the late 1980s.
"The 200‚000 estimate is based on historical trends in the mining sector. What we've noticed is that labour unrest results in long-term job losses‚" Sharp said.
Adcorp's employment index showed employment improved last month for the first time since April‚ rising at an annualised 1.61% after declines in August. This meant job gains of 25‚855 mainly as a result of opportunities in the services sectors.
The 25‚855 jobs partly reversed the decline of 82‚431 jobs observed in the four-month period between May and August.
Adcorp's employment index is regarded as a representative monthly barometer of employment trends in South Africa.
Adcorp found that over the past year‚ mining sector wages‚ including bonuses and overtime‚ increased 13.8% versus an 11.4% decline in labour productivity. "It reveals that the 25.2% absolute gap between labour costs and labour's contribution is now the highest in recorded history‚" Sharp said.
South Africa's mines were responding rationally to the wage demands and lower productivity by reducing their dependence on labour‚ he said.
"The labour unrest will simply accelerate their capital intensive projects in the mines and wider use of labour-saving mining methods‚" Sharp said.
The Adcorp employment index showed that the mining and manufacturing sectors lost 14‚000 jobs between them last month.
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