Call to suspend Sibanye-Stillwater
The death yesterday of another Sibanye-Stillwater mineworker at its Khomanani mine in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, prompted a call from the portfolio committee on mineral resources to suspend the company’s operating licence.
This tragedy comes only 15 days after five miners died at Sibanye’s Kloof Ikamva gold mine in Westonaria, west of Johannesburg.
The portfolio committee chair Sahlulele Luzipo said it was high time the company was placed under curatorship.
“In the interim, it will be best for the company to have someone competent to oversee its daily operations, to take decisions that will be in the best interest of the wellbeing of workers,” he said.
Sibanye-Stillwater has had 20 minerworkers die this year, with the death yesterday of a 35-year old male at about 3.20am taking the total number to 21, just days before the second safety summit is held at the mine on Friday.
Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted said the miner had been caught by a scraper when he entered its path. Exactly what he was doing there is still to be determined, he told The Citizen.
“Essentially, we blast the face to obtain the ore, and the scraper then clears the face of quite big boulders and rock material,” Wellsted said. “The guys make sure the hanging roof is supported so they can work there.”
Mining union Amcu yesterday called the spate of mining losses “a crime against humanity”.