We will not move, say Union Buildings mineworkers
"We are not afraid of anything. If they want to kill us, then let them kill us because we are not moving."
Thousands of Sibanye Stillwaters mineworkers, who have been camping at the Union Buildings for almost three weeks, have not had any luck in their bid to get a R1 000 salary increase.
Instead, they have been degraded and reduced to homelessness, they said on Monday.
Thembelani Nhlanhla, their representative from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), said they met with government representatives but nothing has changed.
“The employer is refusing the R1 000 increase we want, but we are not going to back down.
“We have turned into street kids and have to bathe with cold water. Some sleep in buses while some must sleep outside near a fire to try and keep warm,” said Nhlanhla.
More than 2 500 miners are living like this.
Despite their living conditions, they say they will not be deterred.
The miners are demanding that President Cyril Ramaphosa intervene in their three months wage deadlock with Sibaye Stillwaters and that he fulfil the promises he made at Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg on Workers Day.
Last month, union members booed Ramaphosa off the stage at the Royal Bafokeng.
Ramaphosa then promised that minerals and resources minister Gwede Manthashe would intervene and address their grievances.
This, according to the mineworkers, did not happen.
“We will not move until the president comes to us,” said Nhlanhla.
Sibanye has offered them an increase of R800 plus a R50 increase in the living-out allowance.
The workers however say they demand the full R1 000.
Another worker representative, Lwandile Deyi, said that “the reason some of the government officials are failing to intervene is that they have shares in these mines”.
Deyi said they will not be going anywhere until their demands are met.
“We can stay here for six months, even a year. The only way for them to remove us is to give us the increase we want.
“We are not afraid of anything. If they want to kill us, then let them kill us because we are not moving.
“We are disciplined. We are not looting any nearby shops and we are not blocking roads,” said Deyi.
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) representative Sbongiseni Nombanga highlighted the plight of workers on chronic medication who are continuing to suffer because of the living conditions they are subjected to outside the Union Buildings.
“There are people with high blood pressure and all sorts of sicknesses who are forced to live this way. They have to bathe with cold water and sleep in the cold.”
Nombanga said the families of the miners who are camping outside the Union Buildings have been hit hard financially.
“The people that are here are fathers and have families to look after. Their children have been kicked out of schools and their families are suffering. The current cabinet does not care, they only think about their own stomachs.”
In a statement, Sibanye Stillwaters said the final settlement offer is for three years and will mean that:
– Category 4-8 employees will receive an increase of R850 in year 1, R850 in year 2 and R850 in year 3, which includes a R50 increase in the living out allowance each year.
– Miners, artisans and officials would receive an increase of 5% in years 1, 2 and 3.
“The offer amounts to a 7.8% increase to the basic wage in year one, 7.2% in year two and 6.8% in year three for entry-level category 4 employees.
“In rand terms, this offer would mean that over the next three years, the average monthly guaranteed income including the average bonus for category 4 underground production employees would increase by R1 045 each year from R17 512 to R20 648 by July 1, 2023.”
WATCH | Miners marching outside the Union Buildings pic.twitter.com/FbHaT4HK4u
— Pretoria Rekord (@RekordNewspaper) May 31, 2022
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