The Head of Investor Relations at Sibanye-Stillwater, Mr James Wellsted, just confirmed to the Herald that the employee of Kloof Mine that tested positive for Covid-19 does not stay around Merafong.

Wellsted says the man stays in the Randfontein area, where he also started showing symptoms of the disease on 10 April. As this is too long from 23 March, which is the last day that he was on active duty at the mine, for him to have started showing symptoms, he must have contracted the disease elsewhere.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the incubation period for COVID-19, which is the time since a person has been infected until they start to show symptoms, range from one to 14 days, most commonly around five days.

“We suspect that he was infected either when he travelled in to Mozambique on 25 March, or in his community where he stays in the Randfontein area after he came back,” says Wellsted.

Wellsted says that Sibanye-Stillwater immediately contacted the National Institute for Communicable Diseases after the man tested positive. It was determined with their help that the only other Sibanye-Stillwater employee that the man had contact with was his brother, who has tested negative.

Wellsted also noted that as the employee was clearly not infected while he worked at Kloof, Sibanye-Stillwater had no obligation to report the case to the Minerals Council.