THE 50 workers, formerly employed by the contracting company Uthingo Mining Services, peacefully ended their sit-in at KwaSheleza Outcrop shaft at the Zululand Anthracite Colliery (ZAC) on Tuesday evening.
The ZAC managing director Niels Kristensen said, ‘We are very pleased that this situation has been resolved peacefully and safely.
‘We welcome their decision to end their illegal action and their willingness to discuss any remaining concerns through proper channels of communication.
‘We understand the hardship these former Uthingo Mining employees are facing and are doing everything we can to try and assist them.
‘ZAC has worked very hard to facilitate the prompt payment of all retrenchment monies owed by Uthingo to their former employees.’
He said special arrangements have also been put in place to maximise opportunities for former Uthingo employees to move into employment at ZAC.
Some of them could be employed immediately, others over the coming weeks and months.
The sit-in started on Sunday, 18 January, with the contract miners demanding permanent posts.
Last Monday the protests spread with neighbouring residents taking to the streets and blockading the road with stones and burning tyres.
They were demanding that the mine management be replaced, amid claims they were not adhering to the provisions of the Mines Act and that the mine was polluting their drinking water.
