Petra Diamonds Denies Mass Layoff Claims, Confirms Limited Redundancies
Petra Diamonds has dismissed claims by South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) that it plans to lay off 468 employees due to ongoing challenges in the diamond market. The company clarified that only 84 employees from its Cullinan and Finsch mines in South Africa will be affected, significantly fewer than the number reported by the union. NUM alleged that Petra intended to replace permanent employees with contract workers to cut costs. However, a company