Smelter brought to a halt by dissatisfied vendors
"SAPS and local authorities are aware of the situation. Glencore remains willing to engage with the communities on issues they have brought, as soon as all violence and intimidation has stopped and the complex is back in operation."
STEELPOORT – Productivity has been stalled at Glencore Lion Smelter since Monday. The smelter’s gates have been locked by local business owners.
Among their demands is procurement opportunities at the smelter.
The Lion’s Local Business Vendors (LLBS) said they have been ignored for years regarding tender allocations at Glencore.
“We as business people from Steelpoort, can not even contest for tenders from mines in the Lydenburg area. We are sidelined when it comes to tenders.
“We are even struggling to acquire tenders on our shores. There are certain companies that are preferred when it comes to tenders, whereas locals are not even given opportunities.
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“Even tenders for small jobs like fencing, deliveries and garden jobs are given to their preferred companies,” alleged LLBS’s chairman, Peter Mathunyane.
They alleged a certain company has been given the chance to render more than four services at the smelter.
According to the organisation, only two people from Steelpoort had been empowered by the mine since 2006. “They will train locals in their skills programmes and dump them after they complete the training.”
The secretary of LLBS, Daisy Raphela, said they have discovered some of the mine management are shareholders in the companies owning tenders at Lion.
“How can we compete with people who are heading managerial positions for tendering? This is unfair and we are sidelined in our area. Certain companies have been doing business with the mine since the early 2000s. Their contracts are always renewed without being advertised,” added Raphela.
The business organisation said they have written to Lion Smelter with regards to their grievances, and the company’s response was, “We are still investigating.”
“We will lock the gates until they sit around the table with us to sort out this dilemma. We are not damaging any property. All we need is to engage with them,” LLBS members said.
On Wednesday, about 50 members were still camped at the mine’s gates. They indicated they had slept at the entrances. The protesters have warned they will also target other mines that are not complying with their demands.
Lions Smelter employees seem to be the worst affected; since Monday they have not been able to report for duty. Employees found the gates locked, and they had to return home.
Steelburger/Lydenburg News forwarded queries to Glencore’s communication unit in their head offices in Johannesburg.
Lerato Setsiba of Glencore Operations South Africa confirmed the community unrest around its Lion Smelter in Steelpoort since Monday.
“All roads around the smelter were blocked, denying access to the operation, which lead to the shutdown of the entire complex. As a result, the company has lost millions of rands in revenue with detrimental effects to the company, employees and wider communities.
“SAPS and local authorities are aware of the situation. Glencore remains willing to engage with the communities on issues they have brought, as soon as all violence and intimidation has stopped and the complex is back in operation.”
Limpopo SAPS’s Col Moatshe Ngoepe said they had been monitoring the situation at the plant on Wednesday.
Meanwhile several sources working in and around Steelpoort mines have alleged they had been intimidated by the protesters, who demanded money.
