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A year after halting operations indefinitely, Sapref has announced the conclusion of a retrenchment agreement with labour.
The refinery, which is jointly owned by Shell and BP, halted operations in March last year after it announced it would freeze spending at the largest crude refining facility in the country.
A month later, in April, the refinery was hit by extensive flood damage after Durban experienced severe flooding which resulted in Sapref being submerged in up to three meters of water.
The state-owned Central Energy Fund was interested in acquiring the asset, but a deal became unviable as a result of the flood damage.
"The flooding resulted in severe damage to the refinery, requiring intensive capital investment of about three to five years duration for repair due to damage of long lead items [such as] process control room components and electrical substations," Sapref said in a statement on Friday.
Given the three to five-year estimated duration for repairs and uncertainties on the future of the refinery, Sapref took the decision to right size the organisation and launched a consultation process with affected staff in October last year.
The extensive engagement and consultation ended in January 2023 with 350 employees to be retrenched as compared to the 492 staff which were initially identified as being potentially affected.
Sapref said all employees have been offered psychological care and financial guidance.
"Retrenched employees will be given priority consideration in the event of future availability of employment opportunities," the company said.
