Johannesburg - The toll of those injured at Sibanye Gold’s Cooke operation has moved up from 3 to 4, the company says.
Sibanye Gold, the biggest miner of gold in SA, said on Tuesday that 3 workers assaulted and 2 were in a critical condition after faction fighting among rival unions. The company has closed the mine.
This, Bloomberg reports, caused its stock to drop as much as 7.8 percent.
The company has subsequently said that 4 four employees were injured by unknown assailants in the early hours of Tuesday morning at its Cooke operations.
Two of the four employees were seriously injured and are being treated at local hospitals. The incidents are related to illegal industrial action which started Monday, following a union membership verification dispute, it says.
Read also: Sibanye Gold drops to three-month low
The National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union are competing for support across South Africa’s gold industry. AMCU rose to prominence in the country’s platinum mines, displacing the NUM, following the Marikana massacre, when 34 people protesting over wages were killed in a single day by police in 2012.
The membership verification process, agreed with the unions at the Cooke Operations and facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), commenced two weeks ago and is still ongoing. Despite management engaging with the unions and repeatedly explaining the procedure, a group of employees, embarked on illegal protest action during the night shift on Monday.
“It is regrettable that AMCU has taken this course of action when all employees were fully appraised of the verification process. We are concerned about the acts of intimidation and violence and call upon all union members to respect the rights of other employees who wish to work. We are in discussions with AMCU to resolve their concerns. The assault of Sibanye employees is unacceptable and we are investigating these incidents and will take strong action against the perpetrators. We call on the unions to ensure that their members show restraint”, says Neal Froneman, CEO.
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