The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called for the closure of Sibanye Gold mining company, citing its poor safety record.
This follows the latest incident in which two miners died at Kloof gold mine on Gauteng’s West Rand.
They were trapped underground due to an underground rock fall following an apparent seismic activity.
Cosatu says this is worrying as this happens barely a week after more than 950 workers were trapped underground for more than 24 hours at the same company’s Beatrix mine in the Free State.
Spokesperson Sizwe Pamla says Cosatu demands temporary closure of all the company’s operations until the safety of the workers can be guaranteed.
“As Cosatu we think that the safety record of Sibanye Stillwater is atrocious and alarming. It’s up to the Department of Mineral Resources and the Department of Labour to really take this issue head on, we’re going to be meeting with the NUM as Cosatu, we want to demand that Stillwater operations all across the country be shut down, and an audit of their adherence to safety regulations should be done in all of its operations.”
