Company rubbishes miners’ claims
WHILE illegal miners operating in the vicinity of Kimberley remain adamant that one of their co-workers was kidnapped by security guards of the Kimberley Ekapa Mining Joint Venture (KEM-JV), no criminal case has been opened and the KEM-JV has cited this as evidence that the miners’ are trying to discredit the company through “malicious lies”.
This is according to KEM-JV spokesperson Gert Klopper, who emphasised earlier this week that the mining company had no knowledge of any such incident.
On Tuesday afternoon, the miners said that they were still waiting for answers regarding the whereabouts of one of their colleagues after the man was allegedly loaded into a mine security vehicle by armed guards earlier in the day.
Yesterday, the spokesperson for the illegal miners, Elise Louw, said that the unnamed victim of the alleged kidnapping returned to the informal settlement adjacent to Samaria Road on Wednesday morning, where he collected his personal possessions and left.
“According to the people at the camp, the victim arrived there in the morning and confirmed that he had been kidnapped,” said Louw. “He didn’t appear to have sustained any injuries but was absolutely terrified and said that he was taking his things and going home to Taung.
“As I understand it, the security guards drove him about 20km out of town, on the Douglas Road, where they dropped him off to make his own way back. Apparently, he had to walk all the way to the camp.”
Louw said that they still intended to open a case with the police but had been unable to do so without the man’s statement.
“We have tried to open a case but the police said that the victim would have to be the one to do so,” she explained
“Unfortunately, he was too scared to go to the police before leaving town, but we are in the process of trying to track him down so we can accompany him to take matters further.”
Tensions remained high between the various parties yesterday, with Louw claiming that Tuesday’s incident was but one of many instances where it appeared as if the mining company was making a deliberate effort to antagonise and provoke the illegal miners into committing acts of violence.
However, Klopper rubbished these claims and he described the illegal miners’ conduct as “deplorable” and the allegations as “malicious”.
“We are unaware of any such incident and regard this as a malicious attempt to discredit KEM-JV by a group of people who continue with their illegal activities despite a court ruling against them,” he said.
“We did not expect a case to be opened, as this is a false and malicious allegation.
“Should there be any substance to this, it would be sufficient reason to open a case and pursue criminal action.
Klopper added that there had been further altercations following Tuesday’s incident, where the illegal miners apparently prevented KEM-JV staff from performing their duties.
“There were incidents in which the illegal miners prevented mine officials from accessing mineral resource areas for legal and lawful extraction of ore by blocking roads and tying up gates with wire,” he said.
“The police were contacted and after they intervened, mine officials continued to open the gates and clear the roads.”