Gold One Mine says it has received information that some employees are being held underground against their will. This is as unions and mine management try to establish if miners are staging a sit-in.
Over 400 workers remained underground at the Gold One mine in Springs on Gauteng’s East Rand since last night.
This follows another protest in October when about 500 workers did not resurface for days.
Head of Legal at Gold One, Ziyaad Hassam, says investigations are underway to determine the motive of the sit-in.
“Shortly after the commencement of the night shift, it became apparent that employees who were underground were not going to come out. There’s a small group of people in balaclavas. So, we don’t know their identity, but they are holding the rest of the employees against their will. Some will be sitting in solidarity, but a large number, we are told, are being held against their will. At least 70 out of the 447 employees are middle management or contractors. They are certainly being held against their will. Two employees escaped in the early hours of this morning and they have confirmed that people are being held against their will,” says Hassam.
