Vol. 71/No. 40      October 29, 2007

NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka told the press October 12 that the union will decide whether to strike after talking to the South African mines ministry about a safety audit of mines ordered by President Thabo Mbeki.

Four workers were killed October 10 at two gold mines owned by Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest producer of gold. Three were killed at the Kloof mine as they worked more than two miles underground. According to a company release, rope that was being used to hoist a loaded skip broke, and the skip rolled back, hitting the miners.

Another miner, a rock drill operator, was working 1.7 miles underground at the South Deep mine when he was killed in a rock fall.

Meanwhile, the bodies of 23 miners were recovered from a fire at the St. Helena mine, owned by Harmony Gold Mining Company.

According to a company press release, the fire—which has not yet been put out—broke out September 18 in an unused area about five miles from a working mine shaft.

The bodies were brought to the surface by coworkers who were arrested by police when the fire forced them to evacuate the mine. About 120 workers were arrested, accused of being “illegal miners.” Many are being charged with trespassing. The company claims no knowledge of the mining operation.

On October 3, some 3,200 gold miners were trapped for more than 30 hours underground at another mine owned by Harmony 50 miles from Johannesburg. The workers were trapped when a piece of pipe carrying compressed air ruptured and fell down the main shaft, cutting the power cables to the elevator that transports workers into the mine.

The company is developing a new mine below the current mine shaft to tap richer gold seams and extend the life of the mine. Many of the trapped miners were involved in these operations. There was no secondary escape way for the workers to get out. Instead, they were brought out of the mine through an adjacent waste shaft, using a cage that could carry up to 75 workers at a time. At least 150 of the trapped miners trapped were women.

NUM president Senzeni Zokwana told the press that the mine disaster was caused by the company’s negligence and its practice of mining 24 hours a day.

Zokwana noted that emergency exits are needed to give workers an alternative escape route. “We want to push the companies to build secondary exits, linked to the neighboring mine,” he said.

On September 28 at the nearby Mponeng mine, owned by AngloGold Ashanti, Africa’s number one gold producer, four miners were killed in an underground rock fall.

About 180,000 workers labor in South Africa’s gold mines. Last year 199 South African miners were killed on the job.  
 
 
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