Subcontractors prefer foreign workers since they are more likely to accept wages and working conditions that South Africans shun. The larger contractors favour Mozambique and Lesotho. The employment of subcontracted workers is highly unpredictable, irregular, insecure and unstable. The uncertainty is acutely felt when workers are retrenched. The vast majority received no severance package, and almost half were given no notice and were required to leave the workplace and hostels within a matter of hours.
Mines typically give workers a month's notice.
Working conditions and compensation of subcontracted miners are generally worse than those of regular miners. As many as two-thirds of miners interviewed claim they were not advised of the terms of their contract before starting their job. They say they are not paid the wages they are promised, the benefits and the bonuses stipulated are not adhered to and the agreed accommodation is not available. In the Vaal Reefs disaster of 1995 the mineworkers employed by contractors were not covered bydeath benefits and their families received very little by way of compensation. A special disaster fund was established and through this each family was given R5 000.