Mine puts profits before lives – claim
THE tragic deaths of four gold miners at a Johannesburg mine have been blamed on a shift manager, accused of putting profits before lives.
Angry workers claimed that the manager forced them to work in an abandoned underground shaft where they choked to death from a combination of gas and poor ventilation.
The bodies of four miners have since been retrieved, while the fifth worker has not been accounted for. Rescue operations at Sibanye Gold’s Kloof Ikamva shaft in Westonaria, west of Joburg, were still under way yesterday.
The Department of Mineral Resources yesterday said it would meet the mine management to address the soaring deaths of mineworkers.
The department’s director-general, Thabo Mokoena, said: “We have been on site with the acting chief inspector of mines, who is currently at Sibanye. The minister, together with the department, will be meeting this week with Sibanye to see how we can deal with this challenge.”
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) was even more scathing when it said Sibanye Gold operations had become killing fields.
“The union questions why a manager allegedly forced employees to go underground, even though the Department of Mineral Resources had reportedly issued an order to stop production.
“The shaft in question was reportedly ordered to be closed in terms of section 54 of the Mine Health and Safety Act because of excessive temperature and inadequate ventilation,” said Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa.
However, the company’s spokesperson, Thabile Phumo, said the ban was only for a specific area in the shaft. She added that the area where the bodies were found was not sealed off, but there was a ventilation wall which prevented anyone from accessing it.
“The workers were officially on duty when the incident happened. They were not separated, but they went into the area led by the supervisor of their team. We don’t know why, but we will interview the safety rep who refused to go into that area,” said Phumo.
The company said it would investigate if the deceased were also working with illegal miners.
The Mercury’s sister newspaper, The Star, interviewed several miners from Shaft 4, where the incident took place, and they blamed their supervisors for allegedly bending the rules by forcing them to work in dangerous conditions.
They claimed that about two weeks ago another crew had refused to work in the same shaft, citing poor ventilation and unbearable heat.
The crew’s supervisor and overseer were suspended as a result, and a new crew was brought in on Monday to work at the same shaft.
“The manager then asked the new crew of six to access the shaft. Their safety representative refused to go in because of the heat, which was above 37°C, while other guys went down unwillingly. They felt intimidated, that they would lose their jobs if they did not obey their bosses’ orders,” said a miner.
Sibanye Gold faced similar accusations of intimidation of workers when seven miners were killed in a seismic event at the company’s Driefontein operations last month.
It was alleged that a shaft manager forced them to work less than two hours after ground shook not far from the area where the fatal seismic event occurred.
During their memorial service, the company’s chief executive, Neal Froneman, said workers would not be fired for refusing to work in dangerous places. “All employees have the right to withdraw from unsafe conditions, and we expect that right to be exercised responsibly whenever necessary. There is no excuse for ignoring unsafe conditions or behaviours,” said Froneman at the time.
But National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) chairperson of the health and safety committee, Peter Bailey, yesterday said workers would be charged with insubordination if they refused to take orders from their superiors.
The unions have called on Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe to act decisively against mining houses that fail to ensure staff safety.