Johannesburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it will on Tuesday embark on a march to Lily Gold Mine to hand over a memorandum of grievances.
The NUM said in a statement that it would be joined on the march by members of the African National Congress, Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu), and the South African Communist Party in Barberton, Mpumalanga.
The march on Tuesday comes hot on the heels of the Cosatu march to the mine in Barberton on Sunday, where the union federation put pressure on management to “find” the three trapped mineworkers.
Cosatu said it also wants the government to establish a commission of inquiry into the Lily Mine disaster on February 5, 2016, which left three mineworkers tapped underground when the container they were inside was buried in a fall of ground. The container could not be retrieved because it was covered by huge rocks and it sank even more when rescue attempts were made.
The trapped mineworkers - Pretty Nkambule, Solomon Nyerende and Yvonne Mnisi - remain under the earth.
In a statement, the NUM said the march would start at 10am from Louicreeck town to the area where the three mineworkers are trapped underground.
The NUM listed seven demands to management, among them that the operation of an inclined shaft to rescue the three trapped workers begin within three days.
The union said the trapped workers needed to be brought to the surface so that their families could find closure and move on with their lives.
“The thoughts of having comrades Solomon Nyerende, Yvonne Mnisi and Pretty Nkambule deep down there are disturbing and highly unbearable,” the NUM said.
The union also demands all Lily Mine employees be paid with immediate effect their full outstanding salaries and that the mine comply with the Mining Charter such as the Social Labour Plans (SLP).
“Lily Mine is completely doing nothing for the locals, one of the main reasons why the NUM is opposing to it being placed on a business rescue administration.”
The union also called on mining companies to invest more money in protecting the lives of workers “than focusing more on profits”.
ANA