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Exhibit 4
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[LOGO]
DURBAN ROODEPOORT DEEP
NEW RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
POTENTIAL TO SOFTEN THE BLOW OF JOB CUTS
TALKS ON NWO OUTSOURCING "CONSTRUCTIVE, BUT WILL NOT STOP
2 700 RETRENCHMENTS," SAYS DRD
Durban Roodepoort Deep, Limited ("DRD" Ticker Symbol; JSE: DUR; NASDAQ: DROOY)
has said that its discussions with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) today
(1.10.03) on possible outsourcing of shafts at its troubled North West
Operations (NWO) were "constructive" but would not stop the retrenchment of some
2 700 employees.
Divisional Director of DRD's South African Operations Deon van der Mescht said
today:
"We have signaled our willingness to accommodate a two-month due diligence
process of the targeted business units in order for the parties to make an
informed decision as to whether or not the placement of ex-employees, affected
by retrenchment, through some form of special purpose vehicle or vehicles will
be financially viable.
"We also lent our support to the notion that a condition of any potential future
agreements reached with suitably qualified, independent operators be that
preference is given to retrenched employees when they meet their labour
requirements. This, we believe, could significantly soften the blow of the job
cuts we now have to make."
Critically, terminations were going ahead but not in an effort to reduce wages
or other conditions of employment for remaining employees, van der Mescht said.
"In the past month, while the review process was in progress, we continued to
bleed financially. Also, the further strengthening of the Rand against the US
Dollar in the past day or two means we are very much in a `moving target'
situation regarding rescue plans for the balance of the North West Operations.
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"Our offer of voluntary retrenchment has been taken up by 155 employees and
another 129 have been retired, by agreement with the NUM. Compulsory
retrenchment notices are being served on some 2 700 employees today."
Van der Mescht said the company was `painfully aware" of the impact retrenchment
would have not only on the affected employees and their families, but on the
broader community.
"While we remain committed to the discussion process on outsourcing, we will
press on with the roll out of our social plan, with its focus on finding
alternative employment for affected workers; on psychological, career and
financial counseling; and re-training in alternative skills."
The company had provided R2 million to fund the social plan, he said.
SOUTH AFRICA
Ilja Graulich, Durban Roodepoort Deep, Limited
+27 11 381 7826 (office)
+27 83 604 0820 (mobile)
James Duncan, Russell & Associates
+27 11 880 3924 (office)
+27 82 892 8052 (mobile)
AUSTRALASIA
Paul Downie, Porter Novelli
+61 893 861 233 (office)
+61 414 947 129 (mobile)
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Some of the information in this media release may contain projections or other
forward looking statements regarding future events or other future financial
performance. We wish to caution you that these statements are only projections
and those actual events or results may differ materially. In reviewing, please
refer to the documents that we file from time to time with the SEC, specifically
to our annual report on Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify
important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from
those contained in our projections or forward looking statements, including such
risks as difficulties in being a marginal producer of gold, changes and
reliability of ore reserve estimates, gold price volatility, currency
fluctuations, problems in the integration of operations, exploration and mining
risks and a variety of risks described in our annual report on Form 20-F. We
undertake no obligation to publicly release results of any of these forward
looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after
the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unexpected results.
Cautionary note to US investors: the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose
only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract
or produce. We use the term "resources" (which includes "measured", "indicated",
and "inferred") in our media releases, which the SEC guidelines strictly
prohibit us from including in our filing with the SEC. US investors are urged to
consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No. 0-28800, available
from us at 45 Empire Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa. You can
also obtain this form from the SEC website at HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV/EDGAR.SHTML