Cape Town – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has reportedly refuted claims of a sit-in at Gold One Mine in Springs and accused the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) of holding its members hostage.
At least 500 miners have remained underground since Sunday, with unconfirmed reports suggesting that AMCU members welded entry and exit points shut, The Citizen reported.
According to Livhuwani Mammburu, the spokesperson for NUM, 543 of the union’s members are currently confined underground at Gold One Mine in Springs against their will, said the report.
“There is no sit-in underground by our members.”
“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 report quoted Mammburu as saying.
The union is calling for law enforcement agencies to intervene.
Gold One Mine confirmed the incident, saying that AMCU members were preventing miners from coming to the surface and had cut off communication.
In contrast, AMCU denied holding miners hostage.
The General Secretary of AMCU, Jeffrey Mphahlele, said that the night shift workers chose not to emerge from underground after completing their shifts.
“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.
Police are currently on the scene to address the situation.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
Cape Town – At least 543 miners are currently held hostage in Springs, Eastern Gauteng, with allegations that representatives of the trade union Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) are responsible, a report says.
According to The Citizen, GoldOne has confirmed the incident, and there have been reports of injuries underground, with medics being blocked from accessing the scene.
The miners are awaiting Amcu negotiators to arrive for discussions to resolve the situation and bring them above ground, the report said.
Further updates are pending.
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Picture: Pixabay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
