Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe has indicated that the volatile situation at the Gold One Modder East mine has been escalated to the police as a hostage situation instead of a sit-in by more than 400 miners trapped underground.
It is reported that the miners staged a sit-in on Thursday night and have not returned to the surface since.
This comes after the mine retrenched 70 workers who were alleged to have participated in the previous sit-in at the mine in October.
“This weekend, we visited Gold One Modder East operations to engage with mine management and the workers on possible solutions to the underground sit-ins. Regrettably, the situation changed dramatically with evidence pointing to a hostage situation which requires police intervention,” Mantashe told Newzroom Afrika on Sunday.
He said what necessitated the escalation was the assault on three employees of the mine who were badly attacked and sent out of the mine on the weekend.
“It became a hostage (situation) in the sense that three people came out underground heavily beaten. Once you begin to beat people up, it means they are held hostage. They are underground against their own will. Therefore, it should be dealt with as an offence that requires police intervention,” he said.
This was confirmed by the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) regional co-ordinator, Victor Ngwane, who told “The Star” on Sunday that the minister had called on the SAPS to intervene.
“The minister who was here on Saturday and Sunday has called on the SAPS to intervene. This is because some workers had been badly assaulted and sent out naked from underground the mine. The situation is very bad,” Ngwane said.
According to EWN, the mine’s head of legal, Ziyaad Hassam, said only three miners have managed to escape from underground.
“Those underground are complaining that the food is running out, so we are concerned about the safety and health of the miners. Police are dealing with the demands that were received from the miners. Both unions (NUM and Amcu) have distanced themselves from the situation, and both unions have committed to do everything they can to defuse the situation.
“Furthermore, the miners want to emerge from underground. This situation is developing,” Hassam said.
The Star
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za