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TimesLIVE reports that a legal challenge by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) to force the government to regulate the health and safety of employees returning to mines will be heard urgently by the Labour Court on 29 April.
Amcu approached the court for the matter to be urgently heard after the government amended Covid-19 lockdown regulations for the mining sector on 16 April to allow companies to resume half their operations. For weeks, Amcu has argued that the health and safety of workers cannot be left to the systems set up by mining companies but have to be regulated to ensure every mine was held to the same standards. These requests have not gained traction with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). The court ruled on Tuesday that, while the matter was set down for an urgent hearing on 29 April, the state could use the opportunity to argue that it was not in fact an urgent matter. The matter will be heard via the Zoom video-conferencing platform. It is Amcu’s argument that the mineral resources minister and the chief inspector of mines must exercise the powers granted to them under the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) to impose binding obligations on employers to address the health and safety of mineworkers in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Allan Seccombe at BusinessLive
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