Anglo Platinum condemned for safety violations while relocations seem fated to continue
Published by MAC on 2007-06-08
Anglo Platinum condemned for safety violations while relocations seem fated to continue
8th June 2007
Anglo Platinum has denied reports of ministerial intervention to stop relocations of some 10 000 people from the Ga Pukwa and Ga Sekhaolelo villages, in Limpopo, to make way for Anglo Platinum’s (Angloplat’s) PPR platinum mine, according to Mining Weekly (6 June 2007). A company spokesperson acknowledges that the relocations have been delayed, while at the same time stating the process is continuing.
The South African minister of Minerals and Energy, Buyelwa Sonjica, was said to have ordered the company to halt the relocation of the communities to the nearby "camp" at Armoede. Later, the ministry denied the report, declaring that it had no power to make such an order, while other sources claimed that "negotiations" were continuing with community representatives.
Meanwhile, four workers died last week in accidents at the company's Rustenburg platinum, prompting the National Union of Mineworkers to condemn "the lack of training and failure to follow safety procedures at Anglo Platinum".
Miner fatally wounded following mud-rush which kills three others
JOHANNESBURG (MarketWatch)
8th June 2007
A miner was fatally wounded overnight at Anglo Platinum Ltd.'s (AMS.JO) Rustenburg in South Africa, the same mine where three miners this week died in a mud-rush, South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said Friday.
The trade union said it is concerned by the increasing number of fatalities in the mining industry.
"The miner has been trapped for more than eleven hours now and hope to find him alive is gradually dissipating," NUM said.
"It is a sorry state of affairs that miners do dangerous work and get paid peanuts while in actual fact dangerous work like mining should be well remunerated" said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. "We will therefore not compromise on anything in terms of our negotiations this year as miners cannot continue to risk their lives for a pittance."
NUM said it strongly condemns employers' actions in not following proper safety procedures in pursuit of beating production targets.
It added that it condemns the lack of training and failure to follow safety procedures at Anglo Platinum, and called on the state to intervene.