EMPLOYEES at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde mine were expected to return to work tonight after eight days of downtime following an outbreak of violence at the mine.
Paul Dunne, CEO of Northam Platinum, said members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is the recognised union at the mine, were currently holding a mass meeting.
“We expect there will be a return to work for the night shift tonight,” he said in a telephonic interview. He emphasised that it would be wrong to jump to conclusions about the assailants or the motive for incidents on the mine.
Northam suspended production at Zondereinde on June 6 after a murder in the town of Northam, about 20 kilometres from the mine, appeared to spill into the operation with acts of violence and intimidation reported.
Dunne said, however, that there had been “a successful and swift investigation into the incidents” with the result that six people had been arrested. He described conditions at the mine was “very peaceful” currently.
In the end two people, identified as Messrs Somaxhama and Mhlabeni – both employees at Zondereinde – were murdered.
One of the conclusions drawn regarding the incidents at Zondereinde is that inter-union rivalry was the cause – a view that Dunne was in no mood to accommodate.
The Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU) has a small following at Zondereinde, and is not recognised, but with wage negotiations around the corner, the temperature in labour relations between it and the NUM is inevitably cranked up.
Northam signed a three-year wage deal at Zondereinde last year and is, therefore, not involved in this round of talks that will include Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum.
But Dunne said he was mindful of the effect of tensions. “We are very conscious that what happens at Northam can have an effect in the rest of the industry,” he said.
Commenting in a press release issued earlier today, Dunne urged workers to return to work. This followed a visit by the mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, to the mine premises – his second visit in a week.
