Mineworkers union, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union is calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently intervene to amend the safety legislation at mines to enable greater rights to refuse to work in hazardous situations.
The search is underway for a missing mineworker at the Sibanye-Stillwater mine’s Ikamva shaft, near Westonaria, West of Johannesburg after four other miners died.
The miners succumbed to heat and gas exposure. Last month seven miners died at the company’s Masakhane shaft. Close to 40 miners have been killed at mines across the country so far this year.
Amcu President, Joseph Mathunjwa claims that a mine manager had forced workers to go underground despite the Mineral Resources Department ordering a stop on production.
“On the 8th of this month the Department of Mineral Resources paid a visit to this mine and the temperature was exceeding the required degree. As a result they stopped the mine until such has been addressed. We yesterday learned that the management instructed the workers to enter that space. As a result those workers were forced to enter that area that they weren’t permitted to enter and four mineworkers lost their lives.”
