Twenty miners are reported to have collapsed from hunger at the Modder East shaft of Gold One Mine in Springs, Ekurhuleni, ending a four-day ‘sit-in’.

While some miners spoken to insist it was a voluntary sit-in, mine management has reported that some employees were kept underground against their will. Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe confirmed this, saying in a statement yesterday that ‘evidence pointed to a hostage situation’.

This weekend, we visited Gold One Modder East operations to engage with mine management & the workers on possible solutions to the underground sit-ins. Regrettably, the situation changed dramatically with evidence pointing to a hostage situation which requires police intervention pic.twitter.com/fo2LPF9VZ9

— Gwede Mantashe (@GwedeMantashe1) December 10, 2023

The drama, which was fuelled by 72 dismissals amid union disputes, ended when the health and safety of the miners were compromised due to a lack of food and access to their chronic medication.

On Friday morning, miners who reported for night duty the previous evening did not resurface, with the ‘sit-in’ organisers wanting mine management to investigate their complaints.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union representative at the mine, Hendrick Nchabeleng, said on Friday that they were waiting for the mine to address their grievances.

“We cannot have employees being dismissed for raising their grievances. All we are demanding from the mine is a date for the ballot where a new union representing the rights of the employees will be set,” he said.

On Friday, Gold One said in a statement that despite its ongoing efforts to prioritise the security and well-being of all personnel, a ‘new hostage situation has emerged’.

Thembisile Njisane, one of the miners who was underground, has however refuted the allegations that it was a hostage situation.

“Everyone who was underground was there voluntarily. We were all sitting underground demanding answers from the mine.

“There was no one under duress or assaulted in any way, with the aim of keeping them underground; everyone was there of their own volition,” confirms Njisane.

A journalist from the Springs Advertiser on the scene has reported that families have started to gather to welcome their loved ones at the mine’s main entrance.

Last week, a Gold One investigating officer looking into the October hostage drama/sit-in was gunned down while driving with his family.