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The National Union of Mineworkers  (NUM) in Highveld Region  calls for the African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Mosebenzi Zwane and his Director-General Thabo Mokoena because of their desperate efforts  to suspend and dismiss experienced Regional managers, compliance team and inspectors  who issue statutory notices to the Gupta non-compliance mining operations like what happened at  Koornfontein mine yesterday in our presence where a very competent compliance team leader was dismissed with immediate effect because of his courage to remedy all the detected transformation and compliance issues.

The NUM cannot allow progressive experienced managers at DMR to be threatened with unwarranted suspensions and dismissals and therefore the minister has failed dismally to constructively bring all the relevant mining stakeholders to achieve the economic vision of South Africa.

The minister has once again proven that he is Gupta appointed minister and therefore during his tenure in office Optimum, Kroonfontein, Brakfontein, and all Shiva Uranium operations are designated as a no-go areas and therefore the ANC current leadership led by comrade Cyril Ramaphosa must be decisive and immediately intervene to stop this dictatorial abuse of power by the DG and the Minister of Mineral Resources.

The NUM is reliably informed that the compliance team of the DMR has visited four mining operations owned by the Gupta's in order to discharge their duties and address transformation and compliance issues in which the suppliers, workers, and unions have been complaining about and chief amongst the non-compliance detected by the team included amongst others:

.Essop fund/money held in trusts for the workers has disappeared at Optimum mine
. Mine not complying with safety issues including lack of provision of EPP meaning workers are not safe
. Suppliers not paid on time
. Retrenchment of workers at Koornfontein mine.
Non-compliance in terms of transformation and all procurement targets have not been met by the Gupta owed mining operations.

The NUM has raised a pattern of preferential treatment accorded to all Gupta owned operations in all provinces were workers rights are not been respected and the same minister who visited Optimum mine in 2016 and committed that the new owners will observe and comply with all legislation is the one who is obstructive and victimizing and threatening the DMR compliance and inspectors team to discharge their duties without fear and favour.

As the NUM we appreciate the good effort that is done by the DMR compliance team more so because we are invited as the strategic stakeholder in the mining sector to influence and share our challenges in order to have a collective solution and hold management of the mines accountable.

It is against this background that we find it unacceptable that the Director-General and Minister Mosebenzi Zwane have embarked on an intimidation and victimization campaign in order to protect the Gupta's at the expense of the South African workers.

Issued by NUM