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The Citizen reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has dismissed claims that its members are staging a sit-in at the Gold One Mine in Springs.
Around 500 miners have not returned to the surface since Sunday, with the NUM accusing the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) of holding its members hostage. Unconfirmed reports alleged that Amcu members had welded entry and exit points shut, leaving a closely monitored single point of access to GoldOne’s property. According to NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu, 543 NUM members were being held hostage. He added: “Nine NUM members got injured after they were assaulted by the hooligans who were preventing them from coming to the surface. They are still preventing them from coming to the surface. NUM is also worried that there are a lot of women who are being held hostage underground. This is unacceptable.” The NUM called for law enforcement agencies to intervene and resolve the situation. But, Amcu denied reports that miners were being held hostage. General secretary Jeffrey Mphahlele said the night shift workers did not come up from underground once their shift was completed. “Whatever they decided in the previous night that they are not going to come out. To us it looked like a concerted effort. That was a voluntary situation. Now management is trying to play it saying it’s a hostage and people are being held against their will. So we are not sure of that situation in this point of time,” Mphahlele told the SABC.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Faizel Patel at The Citizen
- See too, NUM claims its members have been assaulted at Springs mine, at EWN
- And also, Amcu to meet Gold One to discuss getting hundreds of miners back to surface, at EWN
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page