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Johannesburg - Government should not renew the licences of mining companies that retrench workers, SA Community Party general secretary Blade Nzimande said on Wednesday.
"When things are going well in the mining industry, those at the top were eating alone. Now that there are problems, the workers are the ones who must face the consequences," he told hundreds of Cosatu members who had gathered in Johannesburg to march for decent jobs.
"It can't be that when things are nice the big bosses eat and when things are bad, workers are retrenched. There can't be decent work when there are retrenchments. Don't renew their licences," Nzimande said.
He said certain conditions should be set for mining companies wanting to conduct business in the country.
Nzimande, who is also the minister of higher education, criticised the banking sector, saying it needed to invest in the country's infrastructure sector beyond building shopping malls.
"We are sick and tired of our own monies in the banks being invested in malls. We need to take this money and invest it in infrastructure to create more jobs."
He said it was wrong to view the task of eradicating unemployment as government's job alone.
