Harmony Gold confirmed on Thursday that around 1,700 employees are participating in an illegal sit-in at the company’s Kusasalethu mine near Carletonville, west of Johannesburg.
Harmony said the sit-in started on Wednesday afternoon when employees chose not to return to surface at the end of the morning shift.
“No formal demands have been made by the participating employees. Management has sought to engage with union leadership with the purpose of resolving the matter and returning all employees to surface,” Harmony said.
The National Union of Mineworkers, the leading union in the gold sector, said it was also in the dark about Kusasalethu workers’ demands and was investigating the matter.
“We don’t know what those workers are demanding. We are also investigating if our members are involved in this sit-in that started yesterday,” NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said briefly.
– African News Agency (ANA)
