Joshua Amupadhi
Mining giant Gold Fields has finally admitted its men’s only hostel system may be at the root of violence which left 28 workers dead in the past month on three of its mines. Gold Fields representative Marion Brower said the company has begun setting up forums — a move to integrate workers regardless of ethnic origin.
Brower said the forums would bring together workers to discuss integration as a means to quell violence between the predominantly Zulu union, United Workers’ Union of South Africa (Uwusa), and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). However, she said though Gold Fields wanted to solve the violence urgently, management at the different operations “moved at their own pace”.
NUM said the violence among workers, which management has put down to conflict between Zulus and other groups, was a result of an outdated Gold Fields policy of allocating workers to hostels along tribal lines. Nearly all of Gold Fields’ 90 000 miners around the country live in the hostels. Brower said “most of the Gold Fields mines [hostels] were traditionally segregated”, but workers could now request to move.
The death of NUM East Driefontein branch treasurer Lesaoana Rapopo from gunshot wounds last week sparked off violence between Uwusa and NUM members underground. Seven miners died during conflicts last week, bringing to 20 the number who have died violently in the past three weeks.
This Monday another four miners were killed in violence underground at Leeudoorn, another of Gold Fields mines, near Carltonville. Similar conflict was also reported at Northam, near Thabazimbi in the North-West province.
The regional co-ordinator for NUM in Carltonville, France Baleni, accused mine management at East Driefontein of deliberately stalling the integration process by “giving Uwusa the final say. Consultations with all workers should not hinder progress. And mine management is only pretending to be facilitating talks [between NUM and Uwusa] but they are the ones contributing to the violence.”
Uwusa representatives could not be reached for comment this week.