Miners not obeying safety laws — Zwane
• AngloGold rebuffs mining minister’s claims • Threat to find other companies to mine
OVER THE PAST DECADE, ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI HAS REDUCED OPERATING FATALITIES BY MORE THAN 80%
AngloGold Ashanti rebuffed surprisingly aggressive claims by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane that it was refusing to obey regulations, particularly those around safety.
Just days after saying the Department of Mineral Resources was “not at war” with Sibanye Gold and AngloGold Ashanti, Zwane tore into the two companies for “refusing to comply with the mining laws of the country”.
AngloGold was having none of it, pointing to its safety record, while Sibanye declined any comment while a legal process it had initiated against Zwane and three safety officials was under way.
“Over the past decade, AngloGold Ashanti has reduced operating fatalities by more than 80%. Over the same period, it has improved its all-injury frequency rate — the broadest measure of workplace injuries — by more than two-thirds,” AngloGold spokesman Stewart Bailey said.
“We believe it is crucial to the wellbeing of every employee that this relationship is not only professional and respectful, but also tightly bound by the laws and regulations that govern the industry,” he said.
Zwane’s comments, which included a threat about finding other companies that would obey laws to mine, came after Sibanye’s subsidiary Sibanye Platinum filed summonses this week against the minister and three high-ranking safety officials.
Sibanye is claiming R26.8m to recompense the company for losses incurred during a safety stoppage at the Kroondal platinum mine, which the company argues was disproportionate to the stipulations of the Mine Health and Safety Act.
Zwane said on Wednesday evening that he had “not yet received the summons from Sibanye”, and was thus unable to comment on the details at this stage.
AngloGold Ashanti successfully overturned in the Labour Court a safety stoppage at its Kopanang mine in late 2016, getting a judgment that found the inspectorate had acted out of proportion with the act.
“It is unfortunate that both companies are choosing to repeatedly suggest, through their utterances in the media, that they are refusing to comply with the mining laws of the country,” Zwane said.
“This is especially concerning, given the fact that the platinum and gold sectors were the biggest contributors to fatalities in 2016.
“Together, these two companies were responsible for the death of 19 mine workers in 2016,” he said.
Mining CEs and the Chamber of Mines have emphasised that they do not oppose safety stoppages where they are warranted, but said that the suspension of mines ordered by the department’s safety inspectorate had to be
in proportion to the severity of the transgression.
The chamber has estimated that between 2012 and 2015, safety stoppages have cost the South African mining industry R13.6bn in lost revenue.
In terms of the act, the inspectors can issue a Section 54 notice, ordering the closure of a mine to tackle problem areas if it poses a threat to the health and safety of employees.
In a number of cases that have come to light in court cases, entire mines have been stopped at enormous cost for localised infringements of the legislation.
It is this type of action from safety inspectors that mining companies want to tackle.
“Profit making and the health and safety of workers are not mutually exclusive and it is unacceptable that these companies are choosing to cheapen the lives of mine workers in this manner,” Zwane said.
“Health and safety should be a priority for all stakeholders in the industry and we are clear that if companies cannot mine safely, they should not be mining at all, and should allow other potential holders, who will respect the laws of our country, to continue mining,” he said.