Miners in underground sit-in

2009-10-19 14:28

Nelspruit - The underground protest at Two Rivers mine in Mpumalanga that began on Sunday evening was still in progress, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Monday afternoon.

Initially around a hundred workers staged an underground sit-in and refused to come out of the mine when their night shift ended at 06:00 on Monday morning.

"They toyi-toyied throughout the night demanding that a manager at the mine be fired," the NUM said.

Now more workers have joined the underground protesters, NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka told Sapa.

"We are worried as those workers that have gone to join the protest underground were not wearing safety gear," he said.

The protest was illegal, he said.

"We have sent our branch leadership to talk to those workers."

Call for manager's dismissal

According to an earlier statement from NUM, the manager had allegedly dismissed four workers after an incident in which a rock fell on a miner's foot.

"We call on Two Rivers management to make a serious intervention and ensure that the manager concerned is dismissed as a matter of urgency," said Doctor Matheso, the NUM representative at Two Rivers.

Two Rivers platinum mine is situated on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, near the town of Lydenburg and is owned by African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Impala Platinum.

Mike Schmidt, spokesperson for ARM, earlier confirmed an underground sit-in was taking place.

"Some workers are not satisfied with a disciplinary hearing that took place on Friday.

"There were some dismissals but also a right to appeal was given and the appeal was due to be held today [Monday].

He said some workers, however, had decided to embark on illegal strike action.

"Due process has not been complied with and the strike is illegal... we are currently in discussions with NUM," Schmidt said.

- SAPA