The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has secured a legal victory after the Kimberley High Court suspended the liquidation of Ekapa Minerals and placed the diamond mining company under business rescue; a ruling the union says offers renewed hope to thousands of workers facing unemployment.

The judgment, delivered on July 27, 2026, by Acting Judge T. Tyuthuza, halted the company’s provisional liquidation and appointed an interim Business Rescue Practitioner to oversee efforts aimed at restoring the financially distressed mining company while preserving jobs and economic activity.

NUMSA described the ruling as “a decisive victory for the working class over cold corporate indifference,” saying that workers’ lives and livelihoods should take precedence over corporate interests. The union also paid tribute to the five miners who lost their lives in the catastrophic mudslide at Ekapa Mine in February, describing the tragedy as a painful reminder of the dangers faced by mineworkers and extending solidarity to the victims’ families.

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Workers challenge liquidation through the courts

The dispute began after Ekapa announced in March 2026 that it had applied for provisional liquidation. NUMSA opposed the decision, criticizing management for pursuing liquidation without consulting either the union or government while workers were still mourning colleagues killed in the mine disaster. According to the union, more than 1,000 employees were left without salaries for months and over 300 workers were subjected to unilateral layoffs. NUMSA argued that business rescue, rather than liquidation, offered the best opportunity to preserve employment and protect the local economy.

In its ruling, the High Court affirmed NUMSA’s stance as the majority trade union to seek business rescue, suspended the liquidation proceedings, and rejected arguments by the company and liquidators that the mine had no viable future. The court accepted evidence that the February mudslide had affected only a specific section of the underground workings and that significant operational areas, including Wesselton, surface mining operations, and several underground levels remained commercially viable.

High Court finds business rescue a better alternative

The court further found that liquidation would have resulted in substantial destruction of value, including the automatic loss of the mine’s valuable mining rights. Instead, business rescue would preserve those rights, enable the recovery of more than R400 million owed to the company by related entities, secure R25 million in post-commencement finance, and create the possibility of maintaining mining operations while restructuring the business. The proposed rescue plan also envisages preserving approximately 500 jobs immediately and delivering better returns to creditors than liquidation.

NUMSA: Workers hold the key to the mine’s future

Speaking after the judgment, Tshepiso Mochabela from NUMSA’s Regional Legal Office in Kimberley told BreakThrough News that the most direct significance of the ruling is that it gives workers a chance to keep their jobs.

“The immediate consequence of this judgment is that it creates a pathway for workers to return to work. By suspending the liquidation proceedings and placing Ekapa under Business Rescue, the court has preserved the opportunity for mining operations to resume under the supervision of the Business Rescue Practitioner. For hundreds of workers and their families, this judgment restores hope where liquidation would have meant the immediate loss of employment.”

Looking beyond the immediate relief, Mochabela said NUMSA’s objective is to ensure that every worker affected by the crisis ultimately returns to employment if the rescue process succeeds.

He explained that business rescue is intended not only to stabilize financially distressed companies but also to preserve productive enterprises and protect livelihoods wherever there is a realistic prospect of recovery.

According to Mochabela, NUMSA’s success before the court rested on presenting a credible, evidence-based alternative to liquidation. He emphasized that workers themselves played a decisive role in developing the rescue proposal by contributing their practical knowledge of the mine’s operations.

“Their experience demonstrated that the mudslide had been confined to one section of the mine while substantial operations remained viable,” he said, adding that this knowledge, combined with the work of the Business Rescue Practitioner and NUMSA’s legal team, persuaded the court that there was a reasonable prospect of rescuing the business.

Mochabela argued that the judgment reinforces the importance of organized labor in corporate restructuring.

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“This judgment demonstrates that workers are not merely employees, they are custodians of institutional knowledge and key stakeholders in the future of the enterprise. Their experience proved invaluable in showing that the mine was worth saving,” he said.

He added that the decision shows how collaboration between workers, organized labor, and business rescue professionals can provide a viable legal mechanism for preserving jobs, protecting economic value, and giving distressed companies an opportunity to recover.

Following the judgment, NUMSA has called on the company’s management and liquidators to cooperate fully as the rescue process begins.

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