The death toll following a clash at a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)’s meeting at Goldfields’ Beatrix mine in the Free State, has risen to four, a mine spokesperson said on Thursday.
Two people were clubbed to death and died at a meeting of about 750 NUM members on Tuesday night.
Goldfields spokesperson Willie Jacobsz said a farmer found two bodies in the veld near the mine, bringing the death toll to four.
They are believed to have died as a result of Tuesday night’s fight, and not from a separate incident, he said. The fight is initially being linked to an internal union dispute.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said, ”We are very shocked and we don’t know what to say. We are looking into the matter quite seriously and believe the law will follow its course. At the same time, we will conduct our own investigation.”
The mine’s number four shaft was closed following the incident and would only be reopened if the safety of workers could be assured, said Jacobsz.
Urgent discussions between the union and mine management would continue and the matter was expected to be placed on the agenda at a NUM national executive committee meeting on Thursday.
Seshoka said that while investigations were under way to establish the cause of the fight, it had been decided to recommend that two NUM branches — one at Oryx and one at Beatrix mine — disband to form one branch.
Police were still investigating. – Sapa