[miningmx.com] — Trade union Solidarity said it would seek to have Aurora Empowerment Systems liquidated if the controversial mining company did not cough up the more than R3m in wages it owed 42 miners.
Solidarity deputy general secretary Gideon du Plessis said in a statement released on Wednesday that the union had issued the first notice of demand to the company on Tuesday.
He said a second notice of demand for an additional R2m would follow shortly before the union applied to the High Court to have the company liquidated.
“Aurora owes 42 of its employees between R13 000 and R200 000 each in salary arrears and statutory deductions such as pension fund contributions, unemployment insurance and PAYE that were never paid to the respective institutions,” said Du Plessis.
He said the union would consider at a later stage instituting fraud charges against the company because it had deducted union membership fees, which, he said, had never been paid over to the unions.
“As a matter of principle, Solidarity demands in the region of R13 000 for arrears in membership fees,” he said.
He said the notice had also been served to Kaunda Global Mining Resources, which according to him, is the company through which Aurora is managing the former Pamodzi mine in Orkney.
“Aurora’s failure to pay employees not only led to an enormous social crisis, but also poses a serious threat to the environment. The last pumping station is expected to be flooded within days with possible catastrophic consequences,” he said.
“Should Aurora fail to settle in full the salary arrears and membership fees that are in arrears before March 8, we will proceed to lodge an application to the High Court for the liquidation of the company.”
In December the politically connected Aurora group was given more time by the High Court in Pretoria to produce funding guarantees to buy the financially stricken Pamodzi Gold mine.
Aurora, whose directors include Khulubuse Zuma, President Jacob Zuma’s nephew, and Zondwa Mandela, former president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, is currently running Pamodzi Gold mine in Orkney and Springs, after making a bid to buy it in October 2009.
But since then, several possible deals have fallen through, mining has ground to a halt and many miners have not been paid for months.
