Business Report writes that unions have called for the shutdown of gold and platinum producer Sibanye-Stillwater following the death of two employees at its Kloof mine on the West Rand yesterday after nearly 1 000 mineworkers were rescued from the group’s Beatrix mine on Friday.

The two workers died following a fall of ground incident triggered by a seismic event at the Ikamva Shaft 4 in Glenharvie at 1.30am, the company said.

It also said in a statement that it had suspended operations in the mine.

“Operations in the affected area have been suspended pending an investigation by Sibanye-Stillwater management together with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and other relevant stakeholders.”

Last week, 955 Sibanye-Stillwater mineworkers were rescued from the Beatrix mine in the Free State after being trapped underground for 30 hours when a storm cut the power supply making it impossible for employees to return to the surface after night shift.

The fatal incident comes as the relationship between the group and labour unions has deteriorated.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Neal Froneman said that the company had a good safety record. “There are too many fatalities in South Africa, it is indefensible to justify one fatality. If we talk safety, as Sibanye-Stillwater, our fatality frequency rate is similar to our peers in North America.”

He said the group did not have a good relationship with labour.

“We do not have a good relationship with labour. We have a turf war between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), both looking to score brownie points, unfortunately at our expense. We want constructive relations. Our vision is of superior value for all stakeholders, not just labour,” he said.

Amcu spokesperson Manzini Zungu said the loss of life at mines was an everyday issue. “We were in Welkom, we were remembering Lily Mine; safety is a concern,” said Zungu.

Cosatu said it was worried by the poor safety record of Sibanye-Stillwater, and demanded the temporary closure of all their operations until the safety of the workers could be guaranteed.

“Workers are dying like flies and the ineffectual government is sitting on its hands. The Department of Labour needs to account for its failure to monitor and deal with the poor safety record of Sibanye-Stillwater. We demand action from both these government departments as soon as possible to avert any further fatalities,” a Cosatu statement said.

Portfolio committee on mineral Resource chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo said the deaths were shocking, particularly in light of the incident a week ago when more than 950 workers were trapped underground.

“Although initial reports are that the deaths occurred as a result of a seismic event at the mine, the committee has always emphasised that more investment should be put into researching new technologies to improve and strengthen health and safety,” said Luzipo.

The original of this report by Dineo Faku appeared on page 17 of Business Report of 8 February 2018

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