South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Wednesday in a statement accused the South African mining industry and the government of not paying enough attention to safety.
The statement followed an incident at DRDGold’s Hartebeestfontein gold mine in the North West province that saw 42 mineworkers trapped underground at the number five shaft, almost six hours after an earthquake took place, and 23 injuries among those that had come to surface.
The NUM claimed that hundreds of mineworkers had been trapped underground at DRDGold.
A tremor took place at about 12.15pm with its epicentre in Klerksdorp.
The tremor registered 5,3 on the Richter scale, said Ian Saunders, project leader at the South African National Seismograph Network at the Council for Geoscience in Pretoria.
“This situation further emphasises and strengthens the call the union made that the Department of Minerals and Energy should take away the mining licence of this company [DRDGold]. It not only has atrocious labour and working relations, but a terrible health and safety record,” said NUM secretary general Gwede Matashe.
“Ensuring that there is safety of workers is a direct responsibility of the employer,” he added.
“Yesterday, the whole area was affected by a seismic event and six mineworkers had to be treated for injuries. Today, we are experiencing another one that encompassed all the operations leading to all shafts being trapped. At present, there are plus-minus 300 workers still trapped at Harties number five shaft.
“This begs the question as to whether DRD has any equipment at all to detect these seismic events and, therefore, embark on precautionary measures,” said the NUM regional secretary at Klerksdorp, Hoyce Pundulu.
The recent spate of rock falls in the industry points to the fact that there are weaknesses in the support structures in place, the NUM said.
“Similarly, the Department of Minerals and Energy’s inspectorate of mines is failing these mineworkers and their families as accidents and deaths go on and increase. What it is seemingly good at is ensuring that there are inquiries where the union is made to sit in conversations over the deaths of black mineworkers.
“In most cases, these inquiries do not even deliver justice to mineworkers and their families,” the union added.
“Companies are quick to dismiss these mineworkers under the cloak of a strong currency or make them increase production when they want to chase profits, but they do not prioritise their safety.
“It would seem that the department is slow to respond as this degeneration occurs. Mineworkers’ lives are as important as the profits of these companies,” Mantashe said.
“We cannot miss the coincidence and irony that in these two days, two companies, DRDGold and Harmony Gold, [that are] operating marginal shafts are at the forefront of accidents.
“In the same breath, we note the accident, last Friday, at AngloGold Ashanti’s Tautona mine — a mine that is seriously contesting for a status in being the best in maiming and killing workers in the Carletonville area,” he added. — I-Net Bridge