Mr Jan Haywood (56) is a shift boss at Lily Mine. He and his wife Pat moved from Rustenburg just over two years ago. The Haywoods have five grandchildren and three sons, one of whom one works in America.
During the interview Jan was very emotional and often had to stop mid-sentence to wipe the tears from his eyes. “I came here from Rustenburg in order to work longer because at Lily Mine I would have gained a few years before retirement. This was not the case in Rustenburg. I do not know any more. I do not see much of a future. This thing has made both my wife and I very emotional and is ruining us financially. I have started selling our furniture just to put food on the table.”
Jan said they are very fortunate as their landlord has lowered the rent, but many others were not so lucky and now face eviction. “We cannot pay the insurance on our vehicles. We do not have money to get to work in the first place, but on the occasions that we can make a plan, we have no coverage. The road to the mine is in a very poor condition.”
During the past weeks the Haywoods have thrown their weight behind the food drive that Lowvelder’s sister publication, Barberton Times, initiated in Barberton. “We’re trying to arrange for food for the households of Lily Mine employees. This not only keeps us busy, but keeps our minds off our own problems,” he said.
He wanted to know what happened to the government’s promise to give the miners who were underground at the time of the collapse, R50 000 each.
“I would not gain from it, because I came out from underground with the last shift just before the accident. I was very lucky. These people bargained on that money. Why did the government even make this promise if it wasn’t planning to execute it?”
Jan said he would like to ask one thing of management and that is to be honest with the employees. “Why should we hear the state of affairs through newspapers and from other people? Have the guts to tell us what’s going on. We do not want to hear it from other people. We want to hear it from you.”
See the video interview here:
Daar is vir niks meer geld
Johan Steyn (48) is ‘n myner wie reeds meer as twee jaar by Lily-myn werksaam is. Hy het vanaf Gravelotte na Barberton verhuis om ‘n beter lewe vir hom, sy lewensmaat, hul dogter en kleindogter te bou.
Alhoewel hy baie hard probeer om positief voor te kom, lê daar ‘n verslaentheid in sy oë wat ‘n mens nie kan miskyk nie. Nie sy lewensmaat of dogter het tans werk nie en Johan sê die hele ding voel soos ‘n nagmerrie waaruit hy maar net nie kan wakker word nie.
“Dit is reeds drie maande en hierdie nagmerrie het begin die dag wat die ramp plaasgevind het.”
Net na die voorval is hy is aangesê om verpligte verlof te neem sonder enige verlofbetaling soos die gebruik is.
“Min mense sal verstaan waardeur ons gaan. Jy kan nie jou voertuig, huis en selfs water-en-ligte rekening betaal nie, al het jy werk. Baie van die mense het boonop koopkrag wat uiteraard geblok word wanneer jy nie die munisipale rekening kan vereffen nie,” sê hy.
Hy het nie stilgesit om te wag dat dinge moet beter word nie, maar het reeds sy CV na verskeie myne gestuur. Die grootste uitdaging tans is dat daar nie geld is vir brandstof of selfs lugtyd nie, dus kan hy nie by die werk uitkom nie, al wil hy, en boonop kan hy nie bel om aansoek te doen vir nog poste nie.
“Ek het reeds vir ‘n onderhoud gegaan, maar die basiese salaris wat hulle my aangebied het – R13 000 – gaan geensins help nie. Met hierdie geld moet ek ‘n huis huur, 97 kilometer na werk toe en terug ry, en dit alleen gaan rondom R4 000 se brandstof ‘n maand beloop. Maak die somme – dit is nie die moeite werd nie,”
“Ons is baie dankbaar vir al die hulp wat ons kry vanuit die gemeenskap, maar dit vat aan ‘n mens se trots – dit begin later voel asof jy teer op ander mense, en dit is iets wat ek nooit sal doen nie,”
Gestremde kind maak saak erger
Mnr. Rudolph du Plessis (53) is ‘n instrumenttegnikus en amper al ‘n jaar werksaam by Lily-myn.
Hy probeer baie hard om nie emosioneel te raak tydens die onderhoud nie, maar die bewing in sy stem verraai sy angs en desperaatheid. Rudolph is getroud en het ‘n tienerdogter wat erg gestremd is en voltydse sorg benodig, dus kan sy vrou nie buitenshuis gaan werk nie.
Hy is nie baie spraaksaam nie, en sluk swaar voor hy praat, maar sê dat hy nie bloot kan terugsit en wag vir beter dae nie, want hierdie myn-storie is besig om hom as mens in die afgrond in te werk.
“Hulle sê geld koop lojaliteit – op hierdie stadium kry ek geen geld nie. Die ding wat bestuur nie aan dink nie is dat my gesin in my oë kyk en ek die een is wat in hulle behoeftes moet voorsien. Ek kan niks doen sonder geld nie – wat verwag hulle van ons?” Rudolph sê dat die bestuur tot dusver nie eerlik met hulle was nie. “Moet ek ander werk soek? Moet ek wag? Wat moet ‘n mens maak?”
Family left in total despair
Kyle Smith (28) is a plant supervisor at Lily Mine who has been working at Barbrook Mine since the weekend of the collapse. He is married and the couple has three young children of which the eldest, a daughter, started grade one this year. The family moved from Middelburg to Barberton five years ago when Kyle took the job at Lily Mine.
He said they are incredibly fortunate as his wife is employed, but he is the breadwinner and her salary is not even enough to cover basic expenses. He still works, but wants to know why he should continue to do so if he does not get paid. Kyle said he understands that they are still on the books of Lily Mine, and as such employed by a mine which is under business rescue. He wants to know why some of Barbrook’s workers have been sitting at home, getting paid while they have to do the work without any remuneration.
“It breaks me to see what this is doing to my family, even to my eldest. How do you explain to a child of that age that her friends may have photographs taken at school, but she cannot, because Lily Mine has not paid Daddy yet?”
Kyle does not hesitate to question management. He said approximately 4,5 kilograms of gold were sent to Johannesburg last Friday, which is worth more than R2 million.
“I want to know where that money is? Why can’t it be used to pay us? This whole thing doesn’t make sense at all. If they communicate with us, we will understand what is going on.” Kyle said he is certainly not the type who will lie down and be beaten, but that this whole fiasco is starting to gnaw away at his soul, piece by piece.
“For me as the breadwinner and a father to whom young children look up, this process has plunged me into the depths of despair, no matter how positive I try to remain.”
Ek het my kleinkinders nog nooit gesien nie
Sean Mills (51) is ‘n enkelouer wat reeds twee jaar as motorelektrisiën by Lily-myn werksaam is. Hy sê die probleem het begin toe hulle einde Februarie nie oortyd betaal is nie, want almal het op daardie geld staatgemaak.
“Sonder geld kan jy niks doen nie. Ek het Vrydag ‘n onderhoud in Johannesburg en om dit so goedkoop moontlik te probeer hou, gaan ek van ‘n minibus taxi gebruik maak, maar selfs die geld om dit te betaal het ek nie. Vannaand kom daar mense na my meubels kyk. Ek verkoop nou my besittings net om my en my twee kinders aan die lewe te hou,”
Hy sê sy kinders verstaan gelukkig waaroor dit gaan, maar hulle raak ook gefrustreerd en die emosies loop maar hoog.
“Net soos Jan het ek ‘n groot probleem met die feit dat ons alewig van ander mense moet hoor wat aangaan. Ons wil net weet waar ons staan sodat ‘n mens kan begin om die stukke op te tel en jou lewe agtermekaar te kry. Ons wil dit by die bestuur hoor – nie by buitestaanders nie,”
Sean sê hy is ook oupa van ‘n seun en dogter en het sy kleinkinders nog nooit gesien nie, want hulle bly in Kaapstad. Die beplanning was dat hy April die tweetjies sou gaan ontmoet, maar dit kan nie nou gebeur nie. Hieroor is hy bitter hartseer.
“Veronderstel ek kry nou op ‘n ander myn werk, dan is dit nog ‘n jaar wat gaan verloop voor ek geregtig is op verlof, dus is dit nog ‘n jaar voor ek my kleinkinders kan sien,”
Hy sê dat hy op hierdie stadium dit ‘n dag op ‘n slag vat. “Bottom line is – wanneer jy werk en nie betaal word nie kry jy nie geld nie. Sonder geld kan ons nie lewe nie. Dit is die realiteit en dit is wat ons op ‘n daaglikse basis mee moet wakker word. Selfs werkloses kan werkloosheidsversekering (UIF) eis. Wat verwag die bestuur moet ons doen?”
