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Mining Weekly reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has expressed concern about the number of Covid-19 cases reported at SA mines and has called on the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to stop mining operations until all safety measures have been adhered to.
Following the outbreak of the virus in the mining industry, and with infections on the rise, the NUM has proposed that all mining operations that have a high number of Covid-19 infections be temporarily closed until the situation is remedied. It noted, however, that all workers would need to be paid their full salaries during the temporary closure of the affected mines and said that all mine managers whose companies were not adhering to the Covid-19 regulations must be arrested. Within the context of national law, workers could, with reasonable justification, remove themselves from unsafe working conditions and not return until the employer had remedied the situation, and if they have exercised this right in good faith, they cannot suffer undue consequences, the union said. As such, the NUM has called on its members to refuse to work in the mines and operations where necessary strict measures were not put in place to protect workers from the virus.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
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