Hundreds of mineworkers who have been underground since Thursday at the Gold One mine in Springs on Gauteng’s East Rand have resurfaced.
More than 400 mine workers did not surface at the end of their shift on Friday morning in what the mine management has described as a sit-in and a hostage situation. This is the second sit-in that the mine workers have staged at the mine in the last three months.
Gold One mine management has confirmed that all the miners have been brought back to the surface safely.
Gold One Head of Legal, Ziyaad Hassam says “I can confirm that all the miners have now been brought back to surface. So everyone is back up to the surface. They are going through the medical team. They are being assessed and those who require further intervention will be taken to nearby hospitals.”
Some workers say the decision to resurface was due to a lack of food underground. 33-year-old Vuyolwethu Mwakwentha speaks to the SABC while having his first meal in days.
“I just had a proper meal after four days. At least I have a little bit of energy. I last saw food on Thursday, I just got out of the mine now. It was very difficult underground, all we had was just water. We survived on water. It’s the hunger that forced us to resurface.”
Gold One says some workers were held underground against their will, while some did it voluntarily, in solidarity with the 50 workers who were laid off for their involvement in the October sit-in.
Hendrick Nchabeleng is one of the people who were charged for his involvement in the October sit-in and for speaking to the media. He says Gold One should do the right thing and recognise AMCU as a union within the mine because that’s what the workers want.
“The company doesn’t want the truth. We no longer want NUM. These sit-ins are because workers no longer want NUM. People want AMCU, hence even here you can see most people are wearing AMCU regalia because that’s the organisation they love.”
Head of Legal at Gold One, Ziyaad Hassam:
