[miningmx.com] — GOLD Fields said on Wednesday that it might soon
change tact in its bid to bring the ongoing work outage at its KDC West mine to an
end.
The warning came as Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), in an unrelated event, said
that its employees have become the victims of widespread cases of intimidation
throughout the Rustenburg area in the North West.
“We confirm that yesterday some of our employees were unable to clock in for night
shift due to fear of intimidation and threats by unidentified individuals in and around
our Rustenburg operations,’ said spokesperson Mpumi Sithole. She said the group’s
employees were not on strike.
The South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Brigadier Thulani Ngubane confirmed that
roads leading to Amplats’s Siphumelele shaft were blocked, saying that the police
have stepped up their presence in the area. Amplats wasn’t immediately able to state
how its operations have been affected.
Spokespeople for the other big platinum operator in the Rustenburg area, Impala
Platinum (Implats), said the group was not affected by similar threats of intimidation.
Implats is currently negotiating a demand for a second 10% increase this year with an
interim workers committee.
Gold Fields said it was willing to give the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
another chance on Wednesday to resolve internal strife among the union’s members
that have halted operations at the group’s KDC West mine (Driefontein). The mine has
been unproductive since Sunday, following a similar week-long unprotected strike at
KDC East. The strike at KDC East was resolved last week Wednesday.
Gold Fields has already obtained an interdict against the strike by 15,000 workers at
KDC West and would be acting within its rights should it start to dismiss employees.
Company spokesperson Sven Lunsche said that NUM’s leadership was currently locked
in talks with its members, saying the group would for now prefer a resolution similar
to the one reached at KDC East.
“Once we know the outcome of those talks, we might adjust our strategy,’ Lunsche
said. “This is not a sustainable situation if it is allowed to carry on.’
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka confirmed that the union’s leadership has
intervened at KDC West. “We are in control of that situation,’ Seshoka said. “We’ve
done [resolved] it before and we should be able to do so now.’
Seshoka confirmed a report that workers at Gold Fields’ Beatrix mine in the Free State
may also go on strike. “We understand the guys at Beatrix will down tools any time
this week,’ Seshoka told Reuters earlier on Wednesday. Lunsche said the company’s
other operations were, for now, operating as per normal.
