Fin24 writes that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has reported that one of its shopstewards, Mahlomola Hlothoane, was murdered at his home on Friday evening by two unknown gunmen.
Police have confirmed the incident, and indicated that there have been no arrests yet. Hlothoane was a shopsteward at Reagetswe Mining, a contractor to Impala Platinum (Implats). Numsa is currently in a standoff with Reagetswe and two other Implats contractors – Triple M Mining and Newrak – over wages. Last week the Johannesburg Labour Court granted Reagetswe Mining an interim interdict against strike action at its operations. In a statement on Sunday evening, Numsa general secretary Irwin Jim condemned the "cold-hearted and brutal" murder of Hlothoane. The union said Hlotoane's murder was the second killing of a Numsa official organising at Implats operations. The statement claimed Hlothoane and Malibongwe Mdazo, who was murdered last year, were killed "for organising workers at Implats. Irvin stated: "Comrade Mahlomola was a Numsa shopsteward who assisted the union by co-ordinating recruitment and mobilising workers at Implats. He was murdered on Friday night at his home in Rustenburg." Meanwhile, Triple M CEO Sipho Xipu said Numsa did not pass the company's threshold for recognition, and it could therefore only negotiate wages with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). According to Xipu, an interim court order was granted in favour of Triple M in its Labour Court application against Numsa, and a final order was scheduled for 18 August.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
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