STEELPOORT – Further protests are expected on the R555 this week. Community leaders vowed to continue with the strike action until their comrades have been released from police custody to continue negotiations.
On Friday the alleged arsonists appeared in the Lydenburg Magistrate’s Court. The case was postponed until today and they were remanded in custody.
The Mampuru, Phasha, Ngwaabe and Tukakgomo communities threatened that they would block the R555 at 18:00 on Monday.
Mr Cisco Mohloki, one of the community representatives from Longtill, said yesterday that the meeting that was scheduled to take place between the communities’ task team, the national Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the mine managers, was postponed until Thursday because the task-team members were still in police custody and unable to represent the communities.
“On Friday we travelled to Lydenburg Magistrate’s Court to hear the outcome of the case, but there was no bail granted to the community members still in custody. The seven will appear on Tuesday morning in the Schonoord Magistrate’s Court. We will blockade the R555 from Monday night until Tuesday morning. We will also support them on Tuesday morning outside the court. If the court outcome is positive we will stop the strike,” said Mohloki.
Mr Willie Mosoma, Sekhukhune District Municipality spokesman, confirmed that the meeting between the task team, DMR and mine managers was postponed until Thursday.
Const Victoria Maluleka, Burgersfort police spokesman, said that they were not aware of any strikes planned for Monday. At the time of going to press all was quite on the R555, but the possibility of protests flaring up in the late afternoon remained.
Last Sunday 16 trucks, a bus, minibus taxi and five private cars were set alight by unruly protesters on the R555 and the Steelbridge. Residents of Ngwaabe, Phasha Mampuru and Tukakgomo ran riot, torching vehicles and blockading roads in the Steelpoort area.The protesting communities are at loggerheads with mining companies, accusing them of not providing jobs, empowerment opportunities and not fulfilling promises of skills development. The communities accuse mines of hiring people from Lydenburg and neglecting those of Steelpoort.
“The mines are not complying with the agreement signed on July 22 at Thaba Moshate Casino, it means they are disregarding the former minister of mineral resources (DMR) Adv Ngoako Ramathlodi,” they said.
” How can they hire general workers from other provinces while we are at their doorstep? We have managers, artisans and engineers among us who are unemployed, offer those posts to us and we will fill them,” they said.
In July the minister held talks with the communities, mine mangers and the Sekhukhune District Municipality (SDM) and Greater Tubatse Municipality (GTM) mayors to resolve one of the most violent strikes to ever have hit Tubatse.
Among the agreements between the mine managers and the communities was that the mines employ locals. The mines also agreed to develop local communities.
The communities and the mines agreed to disband recruitment agencies and to centralise offices where job opportunities would be posted before being advertised. A task team was also formed. Four months later the mining companies stand accused by the residents of not delivered what they promised at Thaba Moshate.
According to the residents some of the members of the task team had resigned and were no longer representing the communities. “They backtracked and convened meetings with Two Rivers Platinum Mine, Booysendal Mine and Assmang Chrome Dwaarsrivier Mine, without the knowledge of the recognised task team,” the residents alleged.
The residents demanded the mayor be sacked as he was a stumbling block towards employment and empowerment of local people in the Steelpoort cluster. They alleged he was dividing the communities.
The mayor refuted the claims via his spokesman, Mr Willy Mosoma, who said, “We believe that these are unfounded allegations based on uninformed political grandstanding and media attention. If they are genuine let them be tested and proven, even if it means using state agencies,” Mosoma said. All the mining companies accused denied attending a meeting with the splinter group.
In a meeting that lasted for nine hours held at the GTM chamber on Tuesday, December 8, the mine management signed an agreement that they would not organise or attend meetings with the splinter group.
During the meeting, it was resolved that the strike would be called off as there was a meeting scheduled for Monday December 14. However, yesterday the short-lived peace seemed in jeopardy when the community vowed further protests.
