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Sowetan reports that relatives of workers who perished in a Limpopo copper mine last week have accused the company of leaving them in debt, after it did not pay for funeral costs as it had apparently promised.
They said they had to foot the burial costs despite a promise by the company to do so. Six miners died at Palabora Mining Company in Phalaborwa after an underground conveyor belt caught fire on 15 July. Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire suppression system was not functional at the time of incident. During the dead miners’ memorial service last week, trade union representatives called on the mine to pay 100% of the funeral costs. According to Phillip Ntivane of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the company only contributed R30,000 to each of the families, which money was sourced from the funeral cover the employees had with the company. “As of now we are still unsure about the details of the contribution the company had made to the families but we will conduct an investigation,” Ntivane said. Jerry Malatji, the brother of deceased miner Elliot Maake, said they had been left with a huge burden after incurring debts towards the funeral, even though they had been assured by the mine that they would be assisted with costs. A spokeswoman for the mine appealed to the families “to engage with us in private spaces if there is anything that they might be feeling aggrieved about.”
- Read more of this Sowetan report by Frank Maponya at SA Labour News
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