Miners meet with Premier’s Office

bile clinic to visit the community on a weekly basis and that their constitutional right to work be protected through government’s co-operation .

The miners are further demanding that their constitutional right to work be respected, in order to feed their families, claiming that efforts to prevent them from doing so contradicted UN policy.

“The miners have registered co-operatives,” Dingiswayo said yesterday. “They would like to be given the necessary training and have applied for permits with the DMR. It’s been two years now and still no permits.

“We have requested the premier to engage with the DMR and we will provide evidence that these co-operatives have submitted their applications.

“These people are making a monthly turnover of R6 million and a sector generating so much money should not be ignored.”

Dingiswayo added there had been a request for the Sol Plaatje Municipality to designate the land they are occupying as an SMME or small-scale mining area and that the floors be properly demarcated to prevent any interference from mining companies.

“The mining companies have social and labour obligations that they are simply not fulfilling,” he said. “We want them to be the ones who provide us with proper roads, access to water and adequate sanitation as part of their obligation to the country. In the interim, we would like the municipality to intervene as they are equipped to offer temporary solutions like trucks to supply water and portable toilets.

“These miners are adults and there are also women among them whose dignity needs to be taken into consideration and respected.”

Demands are also being made to mine the tailing mineral resources (TMRs) on the floors before any construction is allowed to take place.

The Macua secretary general concluded by saying that the miners were aiming to formalise their settlement through the development of permanent housing as this would allow many who reside outside Kimberley to relocate with their families to the city.

“We aren’t moving and instead of selling the land, we say formalise the settlement for the people.”

The Premier’s Office had not responded to media enquiries at the time of going to press.