Johannesburg - Labour federation Cosatu has called on the government to legalise independent small-scale mining as a solution to the growing illegal mining activity in various abandoned mines across the country.
The federation’s calls follow the latest illegal mining incident, which left a number of miners trapped underground, at an abandoned mine in Langlaagte, Johannesburg.
Rescue personnel and the police have tried to rescue those trapped underground since Saturday.
Cosatu said on Monday that the focus on illegal mining as a crime ignores the broader realities of many unemployed people who are desperate to make a living.
“The federation is calling on the Chamber of Mines and the government to explore the possibility of legalising and regulating the small-scale mining, as a way for minimising dangers and also removing the elements that send some of these desperate people underground, without taking any safety precautions,” said Cosatu’s Sizwe Pamla in a statement.
Cosatu said the solution also lay with the government taking greater steps to transform the economy.
It is also worried about the government not doing enough to monitor mine closures and whether the proper environmental procedures were followed.
“We still see many mines being abandoned with mine shafts left open, resulting in the development of contaminated water. What is wrong and immoral is it is the taxpayers who end up carrying the costs of cleaning up after the mine companies have repatriated their profits and left,” said Pamla.
As a solution, the federation said the government should monitor the implementation of the financial assurance policies that were created to assist with the rehabilitation of the closed mines.
Cosatu also called for a “strategic nationalisation” of commodities such as gold, steel and platinum which may benefit illegal miners in search of riches underground.
“It is foolhardy for people to condemn these workers for trying to feed their families in the mines that have been abandoned,” said Cosatu.
LABOUR BUREAU