More than 500 miners are allegedly being held hostage underground at Gold One’s Modder East mine in Springs, Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, and at least nine people have been injured.

While the Springs Advertiser reported yesterday that the 543 mineworkers are allegedly in a ‘sit in’ underground as they want the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) as their representative and not the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), NUM denied this in a statement issued yesterday, stating ‘there is no sit-in underground by our members’.

Gold One released a statement yesterday that it had been granted an interdict at the Labour Court prohibiting Amca and its affiliates from ‘engaging in any illegal strikes or any conduct involving the detention and assault of its members’.

At least nine employees have sustained injuries, reported Gold One.

“The situation remains fluid and we will communicate regular updates regarding the progress in this matter to all stakeholders,” Gold One said.

NUM stated that the hostage situation started on Sunday night when workers reported for a night shift underground, and they were prevented from coming back to the surface yesterday morning – allegedly by members affiliated with Amcu.

Unconfirmed media reports have stated that Amcu has dismissed claims that its members are holding the miners hostage, stating that the workers are there by choice.

Police and private security companies are on site, monitoring the situation.

No other information was available at the time of publishing.