The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) at JC Bez condemns in the strongest terms the management of Kusasalethu mine for abandoning workers. Kusasalethu is part of Harmony Gold and is located in Carletonville west of Johannesburg. At least sixty mineworkers are stranded at the hostels with no money to return home after the mining house called them to return to work. Unfortunately, when they arrived, they were informed that there was no space for them to work, because the mine had exceeded its capacity. It is only allowed to operate at 50% capacity, and already, the number of employees required was above 60 per cent. To make matters worse they have not received their full salary for the month of April.

With nowhere to go, workers have no choice but to remain in the hostels. They were promised transport back to their homes, but this has not materialized. They have been stranded for more than a week and would prefer to go home, because at least there, they can practice social distancing. They are unable to practice social distancing in the hostels, and worse, they do not have sanitizers which places employees lives at risk of infection. The management of the mine is failing to comply with health and safety standards. We condemn mine management for treating workers in this way. All that matters to them is profits and they are not concerned about the dangers this is posing for workers and the community at large. This is the general attitude we have experienced from Harmony Gold mines, last month our members at Target were also complaining about health and safety violations.

We demand that mine management must urgently transport these workers home, and it must ensure that they all receive their salaries for the month of April. We condemn them for haphazardly issuing permits, and failing to comply with covid-19 guidelines. Workers cannot be punished for the poor planning of management.

Aluta continua!

The struggle continues!

Issued by The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa