EDITORIAL | We do not need another Marikana

Unions, by their very nature, are given to causing tension and what at times appears unnecessary fissures as they jostle for relevance — and fees.

These battles, often between unions and sometimes against company owners, can quickly degenerate into an orgy of violence.

This is why we call for cool heads at Gold One’s Modder East shaft in Springs, east of Johannesburg, after reports of guns used to hold workers hostage underground, according to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

“There are Amcu (Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union) members who are carrying weapons inside the company premises, they are singing and threatening our members in front of the police and mine security. The situation is very volatile,” says NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu.

But Amcu general secretary Jeff Mphahlele, however, says “the night shift staff decided to do a sit-in (on Sunday), they did not come out this (Monday) morning”. Amcu would have us believe that all workers are happily participating and refusing to come out after the shift.

But this version is contradicted by the mine management and police who, through spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, confirm that about 550 miners were prevented from returning to the surface at the shaft and that police stand ready to assist.

We also know that the last time police were called in to assist in Marikana, 34 miners were killed on a single day and 10 others in the days preceding the massacre. This was the highest number of people killed during a protest since the dawn of democracy. It remains one of our darkest chapters not just in the mining sector but our country.

This is why the police must tread carefully. We certainly do not need another Marikana. It is important that police don’t become overzealous and kill miners, even if wrongfully or illegally holding others hostage, without good cause. At the same time, we must guard against lawlessness. It is unacceptable that some unionists can use guns to force others to take part in strike action that is not of their choosing. And if their lives are threatened, the police must, within the law, restore order. A failure to do this will gnaw away at the police’s raison d’etre.

TimesLIVE has also reported that some of those who were held hostage — or decided to do a sit-in — are on medication. One of the wives, who identified herself as only as Ntombi, says her husband, a father of four, has been on tuberculosis medication for six months. But of course, the union bosses fighting for recognition will not consider possibilities of Ntombi’s husband developing resistance to the drugs. Their focus is on which union comes out of this as the majority union and, by extension, where union members’ fees go to henceforth.

The dispute about whether NUM has lost its majority status or, inversely, if Amcu has gained majority status is pending before the labour court. So why the hostage drama? Amcu is not the only juristic person affected by the slow pace of judicial determinations. Would the hostage drama nullify the court outcome? Obviously not.

So the pointlessness of the hostage situation, the readiness to risk lives are explained only through the greed of those who stand to gain from the current impasse. Those seen brandishing guns or intimidating others at Modder East should be made to face the full consequences of their actions.