Reports on wages of over R4 000 ‘blatant lie’

Operations, Springs. 5 strikers were allegedly shot by rubber bullets early this morning. 030912. picture: Chris Collingridge 805

Operations, Springs. 5 strikers were allegedly shot by rubber bullets early this morning. 030912. picture: Chris Collingridge 805

Published Sep 6, 2012

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Johannesburg - The 13 miners who were arrested for public violence on Monday appeared in the Springs Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

No one has been charged for the shooting of four miners who were injured during a clash at Gold One’s Modder East mine.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said they were still investigating who the case of attempted murder was against.

He said the police were still waiting for a medical report to establish whether rubber bullets or live ammunition were used on the miners.

Mineworkers who came to support their colleagues told The Star outside the court about their battle with the Gold One mine.

They said it was a blatant lie that they earned R4 700 before deductions. The miners said they earned R2 875 a month.

“We then get a mere R140 for transport and R70 for food monthly. I spend R42 for transport daily. That R140 does nothing for me,” said one miner.

They alleged R200 was deducted from their pay for a provident fund they knew nothing about.

They also said they had not attacked any colleagues on Monday and had been protesting at least a kilometre away.

The miners said they had sent their shop stewards to speak to mine management

, but with no success.

Their protest for better pay started on June 4.

“We received a court interdict to return to work the next day, but we were turned away,” said another miner.

They said they had started receiving dismissal SMSes in June and were told to SMS a “please call me” to a particular number if they wanted to be considered for re-employment.

“We want to be paid out for the last four months. How can they fire us, after we’ve been there for years, over an SMS? That’s not how we were hired.”

The miners also said they were told to pay for everything they used while working at the mines. This included their overalls, masks, gloves and earplugs, among others.

The miners also alleged that three of the injured four had been shot with rubber bullets and one had sustained wounds from live ammunition.

The miners said it was because they belonged to the Professional Transport and Allied Workers Union that the National Union of Mineworkers and management did not want to work with them.

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The Star

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