Mining Weekly reports that Solidarity has expressed “utter disgust” at the killing of an electrician by illegal miners at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Cooke plant.

According to the trade union, on the night of 6 June illegal miners shot and killed a worker while he was doing normal repair work to power cables. Solidarity said the victim and his colleagues were doing emergency repairs in good faith and posed no threat to the illegal miners. “He was shot in cold blood. Mining is in itself a high-risk industry and it is now becoming even more dangerous as a result of the presence of illegal miners,” Solidarity strategy and sustainability deputy general secretary Advocate Paul Mardon said. Solidarity maintains that the increase in unsafe conditions for employees in the mining industry can be mainly attributed to the government’s inability to curb illegal mining in SA. Mardon indicated: “Despite numerous fatal incidents at mines and repeated requests from Solidarity for the government to take deliberate action against the criminals, illegal mining activities have increased in the country and the government has not had any apparent success against them. The role that the government is playing in this regard, be it due to a lack of competence or the absence of a will to intervene in matters, cannot be emphasised strongly enough. These issues are not mere theoretical policy issues. They have tangible consequences and employees can no longer pay with their lives because a careless government is dragging its heels.” He emphasised the union’s demand for “immediate, clear and considerable action”.

• Read the original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
• Lees ook, Optrede geëis ná zama-zamas werker vermoor, by Maroela Media

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