/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions is saddened by the news of the death of the so called “illegal miners” following the underground outbreak of carbon monoxide at a disused mine in Langlaagte, Johannesburg. We send our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the deceased workers.

The federation is worried by escalating deaths of these independent miners and is calling on the mining sector and the department of mineral resources, in particular, to address this issue immediately. These workers are not risking their lives because they are greedy but they are desperately trying to make a living, and we find it objectionable that they are treated as criminal plunderers, who are “costing” the mining industry billions. 
It is now obvious that focusing on criminalisation of the independent small scale mining, when there are millions of unemployed people desperately looking for jobs is not the solution. The federation is calling on the Chamber of Mines and government to explore the possibility of legalising and regulating the small scale mining ,as a way of minimising dangers and also removing the criminal elements that send some of these desperate people underground ,without taking any safety precautions.

The 2009 South African Human Rights Commission report revealed that these illegal miners were under the control of criminal syndicates that were working with the so called legitimate companies to exploit these vulnerable workers. This problem will continue to persist as long as the majority of South Africans find themselves isolated from main stream economy and also still sitting at the bottom end of the economic pyramid. The best way to deal with this problem is for government to embark on a radical economic transformation that will change the colonial and apartheid structure of the economy.

COSATU is also worried that South Africa is still failing to properly implement and monitor mine closures, especially considering the mining industry’s poor environmental legacy. We still see many mines being abandoned , with mine shafts left open ,resulting in the development of contaminated mine water.

What is wrong and immoral is that it is the taxpayers, who end up carrying the costs of cleaning up after the mine companies have repatriated their profits and left. COSATU is calling on government to monitor the implementation of the current financial assurance policies that are meant to help with the rehabilitation of closed mines.

COSATU is adamant that South Africa needs to control and regulate the strategic commodities such as gold, platinum and steel under government control. This strategic nationalisation will go a long way in addressing the problem of independent miners.  It is foolhardy for people to condemn these workers for trying to feed their families in the mines that have been abandoned by the biggest plunderers, because they are facing a crisis of profit.

It is the big mining companies, who are fuelling this business because they usually scale down their production, when they are faced with a fall in commodity prices. They leave these mines lying dormant, while millions of mineworkers are retrenched and left jobless.

Issued by COSATU