Sunday Independent writes that it has become abundantly clear that Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane is not a man who can be taken at his word. The monetary windfall he promised the disaster victims at Lily Mine on 5 February has now become the responsibility of the mine, as the minister will clearly not make good on it.
In the heat of the moment, Zwane promised the families of the three trapped mineworkers – Solomon Nyirenda, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule – R200,000 each, while the 75 rescued mineworkers were told they stood to make R50,000. But not a cent has been paid so far as the minister seems to have dumped the hot potato in the lap of Lily Mine.
Having applied for business rescue, Lily does not have that kind of money. But said Rob Devereux, of business rescue firm Sturns, they will, as a sign of goodwill, honour the promise. This can only happen after Lily receives the R200 million it seeks to restart operations at the mine. “As part of the business rescue process, we will honour the payments.” But top of the list after getting the money is to drill a new decline shaft to Level 4, which would lead to reopening the mine.
Saying that Lily had not budgeted for the payouts, Devereux indicated that the money for them amounted to R4.3 million. The money had now been built into the R200 million sought to reopen the mine. He said the three families of the miners trapped underground continued to receive their salaries of R16,000 a month. They also get food parcels from Social Development. Yet the payments to be made to the affected mineworkers “are not to be misconstrued as an admission of guilt on the part of the company.” Devereux warned that if this was not explained, it could set a precedent for future disasters. “Every trapped miner in South Africa would demand this.” But how far is Sturns from getting the money? “I’m pretty close,” said Devereux.
Playing his cards close to his chest regarding the prospective rescuer, Devereux said every stakeholder, including the unions, had been appraised of developments. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the majority union at 80%, was followed by trade union Solidarity. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which had been at pains to organise a march to Lily Mine, was not a recognised union.
Read this report by Don Makatile in full on page 6 of Sunday Independent of 2 October 2016
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