Mail & Guardian reports that a number former Lonmin mineworkers who were shot and injured on 16 August 2012 claim that Sibanye-Stillwater wants to renege on the long-standing agreement they had with Lonmin to continue to pay workers who had been injured and debilitated at Marikana without them needing to work.
Lungisile Madwantsi has a bullet lodged in his head and he is not fit to work. Lonmin kept him as an employee, even though he cannot work. Now, he claims, all of this is about to change. Magidiwane says that he was contacted by the mine’s HR department, which informed him that he had to take a medical examination. “I was told that if I fail I am gone and if I pass I am going back underground.” He took the examination while he was meant to be on leave. “I felt forced to take this medical examination because I was told that if I don’t, I will not get my salary. Essentially, what they want is to find us a place to work or force us out,” he claimed. Magidiwane and two colleagues in the same predicament feel anxious about Sibanye’s intentions. But, James Wellsted, the senior vice-president of investor relations at Sibanye, said that there had been a miscommunication with the group of former mineworkers concerned. He indicated that that the company wanted to ascertain the wounded men’s “current health and wellness status and whether the care that has been provided for their injuries is sufficient or whether they may require additional medical attention”. But amid all the uncertainty and miscommunication, thousands of Sibanye workers have been laid off, heightening the apprehension of the wounded men. Amcu’s Patrick Moepadira, confirmed that the union was dealing with the matter of forced medical examinations. “We have asked the comrades to undergo these medicals and we will take it from there. We are dealing with this internally but we will not allow for our members to be mistreated in any way,” he said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Athandiwe Saba at Mail & Guardian
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