In a letter addressed to the mine management, Cosatu says after several attempts by its officials in that area to reach an amicable solution, the mine has simply failed to come to the table. Workers of Cosatu and NUM further accuse the company of being reluctant to engage with them and say this left them with no choice but to demonstrate against the mining company. Cosatu Free State spokesperson, Monyatso Mahlatsi, says the march will start from 11:30 at the junction of ZR Mahabane Road in the direction of the mining company and they will be handing over a memorandum to the management at 13:00. Meanwhile, the mining company’s management has in a response letter to the two unions acknowledged the receipt of the letter informing them of the march today.

In an unrelated incident, the march comes a few days after 280 Lanxess mineworkers in Rustenburg in the North West finally on Thursday returned to the surface and ended an eight-day sit-in underground in protest against the management. This as about 280 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) started an underground sit-in on June 19, demanding recognition of their union, the reinstatement of dismissed workers and the suspension of an official accused of sexual harassment.

The mineworkers were addressed by Numsa Secretary-General, Irvin Jim, who was accompanied by SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) Secretary-General, Zwelinzima Vavi.

In terms of the agreement, workers who had been on an underground strike would not be charged but would be issued with a warning valid for six months, the case of the 56 dismissed workers would be referred for an external pre-dismissal arbitration for review and Numsa was granted recognition in the mines.

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