Union angered by miners’ deaths

THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said that it was “angry and concerned” at the rate mining incidents were happening at Sibanye-Stillwater’s operations. This comes after Sibanye confirmed that three mineworkers died and two others remain trapped at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Kloof Ikamva shaft near Westonaria.

“It seems that disasters have become the order of the day at Sibanye-Stillwater and as NUM we are highly disturbed and angered by this as this company is leading the pack in terms of fatalities and the number of deaths per mine,” Peter Bailey, NUM health and safety chairperson said.

NUM said that the number of dead miners stood at four, but Sibanye disputed this, saying that there had been an incident at its Kloof Ikamva shaft involving five employees who entered an abandoned working place.

“Sadly, three employees have been retrieved and declared deceased. Mine rescue teams are still searching for two employees,” the mine said. – African News Agency