Dineo Matomela
PRODUCTION has ground to a halt at two shafts of Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine following riots by the disgruntled community, who are demanding the employment of locals.
Bernard Mokwena, the vice-president of external affairs at Lonmin, said the company was counting the cost of damage done by the Bapo Ba Mogale community in the North West.
“Every time there are stoppages, it affects production… it is too early to say how much the protests have amounted to. We are trying to make sure the two shafts resume operations,” Mokwena said.
This is not the first time production at the mine has been disrupted. Operation were suspended for six days in May when 9 000 employees went on strike. Marikana employs about 30 000 people, including contract workers.
“We want to stop Lonmin from operating, until we have a meeting with chief executive Ian Farmer, and other directors. We demand that Lonmin employs 2 500 residents and that it starts to contribute towards development,” said Reuben Kaise, the spokesman of the community task team that deals with unemployment and development.
He said a group of youths had stopped buses transporting employees to the mine, burnt tyres and closed down a school to voice their dismay at how Lonmin had allegedly handed over R500 million to a group of residents. He said they intended to destabilise the community following what seemed to be a misunderstanding concerning the cash distribution.
Last Friday, Lonmin held a meeting with the Bapo Ba Mogale Unemployment Forum to discuss “a perceived lack of recruitment from the Bapo community”.
At the meeting the forum alleged that Lonmin had given the money to certain community members. Lonmin said the R500m was royalties paid by Lonmin in terms of a national mineral lease entered into 30 years ago.
Kaise disagreed with Lonmin, and claimed that the money had been deposited into the bank accounts of certain businessmen and that it was not for royalties.
Thabo Lerefolo, the administrator at Bapo Ba Mogale, said: “I can confirm in my capacity as administrator that I am not part of the action. I condemn violence and damage to property. This is not an administrative issue, it is an issue beyond us, we are trying to inform the office of the MEC.”
Lerefolo said the situation was expected to remain volatile as a result of “leadership problems” and would remain so pending a high court ruling. The area has been under administration since 2009 following the dismissal of the tribal authority in 2005.
Shares in the third-largest platinum producer fell 0.3 percent to R136.12 yesterday.