An employee at the troubled Gold One mine has told how he escaped an attack by his colleagues outside the company’s gates and moments later his car was torched.
Peter Radebe was reporting for work on Monday when he met a group of angry mineworkers who claimed to belong to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). They had been protesting outside the mine gates over their suspensions linked to the hostage drama at the mine in Spring, Ekurhuleni, last month.
He said the mine instructed essential workers to come to work. One of his woman colleagues had, however, called him after she was stopped from entering the company’s premises by the protesting group.
“She eventually went home and called me. I told her I would go with her and when we got there the protesters threatened us and wouldn’t allow us in,” Radebe said.
When they tried to leave, the protesters blocked the car from driving off.
“They were aggressive and I was scared. They had knives and axes; some were wearing balaclavas and they kept threatening to chop my head off. I got out of the car and ran off, scared for my safety. I could hear them running after me and I managed to hide behind bushes and trees. I don’t know how long I was there, but I didn’t know they had torched my car until I saw it,” said Radebe.
The protesters told Sowetan they were not the ones responsible for torching the car.
The workers had been protesting throughout the weekend after the mine’s decision to suspend operations on Thursday for employees' safety.
Last month the company placed 34 workers on suspension on charges relating to participating in the sit-in underground which turned into a hostage situation. Amcu accused the mine of failing to award it organisational rights and colluding with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which for years enjoyed dominance at the mine.
Business Day reported Amcu s lodged an urgent application at the labour court to compel NUM to hold a ballot to indicate the numbers in favour of keeping the closed shop agreement and those wanting it dissolved.
A mineworker who asked to remain anonymous said he did not do anything wrong.
“The police have been here the whole weekend, they didn’t fire teargas or rubber bullets at us on Saturday or Sunday, so why did they have to shoot at us today [Monday]? People have been arrested, cars have been impounded and some people have been hospitalised.” said the worker.
Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa said the protesting workers were not fully registered Amcu members.
“We were told it was a community protesting as a result of operations being suspended to deal with the deliberations and so it is not correct to suggest that Amcu members are on strike as we don’t have members there, we have potential members. Amcu has filed an interdict so we can’t be protesting,” said Mathunjwa.
Gold One mine’s legal head Ziyaad Hassam said the company had asked Amcu to speak to its members to show restraint until the conclusion of the court processes.
“We have communicated with Amcu that as there is a court process and we are not opposing that process, we urge them to show restraint and communicate with members to show restraint because we are abiding by the time frames they have asked the labour court to implement,” said Hassam.
He said the mine had been running with limited employees since the hostage incident.
‘They threatened to chop my head off’: Gold One miner says pro-Amcu group torched his car
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
An employee at the troubled Gold One mine has told how he escaped an attack by his colleagues outside the company’s gates and moments later his car was torched.
Peter Radebe was reporting for work on Monday when he met a group of angry mineworkers who claimed to belong to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). They had been protesting outside the mine gates over their suspensions linked to the hostage drama at the mine in Spring, Ekurhuleni, last month.
He said the mine instructed essential workers to come to work. One of his woman colleagues had, however, called him after she was stopped from entering the company’s premises by the protesting group.
“She eventually went home and called me. I told her I would go with her and when we got there the protesters threatened us and wouldn’t allow us in,” Radebe said.
When they tried to leave, the protesters blocked the car from driving off.
“They were aggressive and I was scared. They had knives and axes; some were wearing balaclavas and they kept threatening to chop my head off. I got out of the car and ran off, scared for my safety. I could hear them running after me and I managed to hide behind bushes and trees. I don’t know how long I was there, but I didn’t know they had torched my car until I saw it,” said Radebe.
The protesters told Sowetan they were not the ones responsible for torching the car.
The workers had been protesting throughout the weekend after the mine’s decision to suspend operations on Thursday for employees' safety.
Last month the company placed 34 workers on suspension on charges relating to participating in the sit-in underground which turned into a hostage situation. Amcu accused the mine of failing to award it organisational rights and colluding with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which for years enjoyed dominance at the mine.
Business Day reported Amcu s lodged an urgent application at the labour court to compel NUM to hold a ballot to indicate the numbers in favour of keeping the closed shop agreement and those wanting it dissolved.
A mineworker who asked to remain anonymous said he did not do anything wrong.
“The police have been here the whole weekend, they didn’t fire teargas or rubber bullets at us on Saturday or Sunday, so why did they have to shoot at us today [Monday]? People have been arrested, cars have been impounded and some people have been hospitalised.” said the worker.
Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa said the protesting workers were not fully registered Amcu members.
“We were told it was a community protesting as a result of operations being suspended to deal with the deliberations and so it is not correct to suggest that Amcu members are on strike as we don’t have members there, we have potential members. Amcu has filed an interdict so we can’t be protesting,” said Mathunjwa.
Gold One mine’s legal head Ziyaad Hassam said the company had asked Amcu to speak to its members to show restraint until the conclusion of the court processes.
“We have communicated with Amcu that as there is a court process and we are not opposing that process, we urge them to show restraint and communicate with members to show restraint because we are abiding by the time frames they have asked the labour court to implement,” said Hassam.
He said the mine had been running with limited employees since the hostage incident.
SowetanLIVE
READ MORE:
Gold One suspends operations at Modder East plant
Gold One mine expects number of workers being disciplined for holding co-workers 'hostage' to rise
Labour unions lost more than half a million members in the last year
IN PICS | Hygiene problems prompted women miners to end protest at Gold One
‘We last ate on Monday night, hunger forced us out’: miners as underground protest ends
Gold One drama: Amcu 'tells' miners to resurface as it moves to 'Plan B'
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos