CAPE TOWN, February 6 (ANA) – The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Monday denounced the four-day Mining Indaba as another industry talk-shop, saying it would do very little to bring about the necessary changes and transformation of the sector.
The 2017 Investing in African Mining Indaba, which is attended by more than 3,000 delegates, began on Monday in Cape Town and would run until Thursday.
“This Mining Indaba is dominated by free market acolytes and true believers, whose sole mandate is to intensify their egregious assault on worker rights,” Cosatu said in a statement.
“The mining sector has seriously failed the workers, our economy and our continent in general. They continue to pay slave wages, retrench workers without retraining them or helping them start some income generating projects ;and have been nothing but a classical example of the immorality of Capitalism and its festering greed.”
Cosatu said the only way for the role-players at Indaba to recoup some semblance of legitimacy and relevance would be for them to start taking seriously the five-point pledge plan that was meant to achieve zero harm with regard to mining fatalities.
The biggest union federation highlighted the fact that this year’s Mining Indaba was taking place under the shadow of the Lily Mine tragedy.
Pretty Mabuza, Solomon Nyarenda and Yvonne Mnisi remain trapped underground one year later after efforts to rescue them and to compensate their families came to a nought.
Their tragedy occurred at Lily Vantage gold mine in Barberton when the collapse of a crown pillar caused a giant sinkhole that sank a container they were working in. The mine has since been put under business rescue.
During his keynote address, Minerals Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, said that health and safety was an area which continued to receive priority attention.
“The regrettable accident which occurred at Lily mine in Mpumalanga province a year ago remains in our hearts and we will continue to toil to ensure that the families get closure,” Zwane said.
“The Department will continue to enforce the legislation consistently, and I have full confidence in the officials who administer these laws. For mining to be sustainable well into the future, the industry must place greater value on the lives of workers.”
But Cosatu said it expected the Mining Indaba to reflect and resolve on the “environmental damage” caused by the mining industry, and how the industry was planning to implement mine closures, especially considering its poor environmental legacy.
“This Indaba will be a spectacular failure if it only focuses on profit maximisation and increased mechanisation of the sector, without paying serious attention to job security, economic growth and access to educational, housing and other facilities for the mine workers.
“Cosatu wants to see all those companies that exploit wasting assets, such as mines compelled to provide their workers with adequate housing, training and opportunities for promotion.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
