5 June 2025

MEDIA RELEASE

No concern for health and safety standards leads to too avoidable incidents in a week trapping and threatening the lives of over 538 breadwinners

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) condemns the wanton disregard of health and safety standards by Sibanye Stillwater, in unquenched pursuit of profits threating the lives of over 538 workers in less than a week.

The gold price is currently on the rise and has motivated management to blindly run operations with a complete disregard for health and safety standards. A week ago, 260 workers were trapped underground at Kloof 7 shaft, and again today another 278 workers were trapped at Masakhane Shaft. This is a very worrying trend and needs to be nipped in the bud before it leads to a mass massacre of workers.

AMCU is calling for accountability from all responsible authorities and will lead the charge in ensuring that there is consequence management. We further urge the DMRE to take tough action against the management of Sibanye Stillwater in ensuring that there is observance of health and safety standards in the operations.

AMCU condemns the management failure to maintain and inspect its health and safety in operations. This is a repeat incident and demonstrates capital negligence deserving of serious consequence management.

To date there is no s54 or s55 notice issued to Sibanye Stillwater for the Kloof incident last, as required by the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA). It shows that the DMRE is also negligent in its inspectorate and enforcement role. Such incompetence leaves workers vulnerable to profiteering capitalists who do not care about the lives of black people.

The life of a black child is so cheap, that they will kill you today and replace you tomorrow. It is disheartening when such happens under the watch of a State that is supposed the constitutional right to life, in a constitutional democracy. What is the right to life in s11 of the Constitution when workers lives are threatened by the derelict pursuit of profit.

AMCU continues to call for the criminalisation of management decisions that threaten the lives of workers. In as much as fatal incidents can be viewed by the NPA as culpable homicide within the Criminal Procedure Act, we will be campaigning for the examination of such incidents in Kloof 7 and Masakhane Shafts as attempted murder, where criminal negligence can be proven on the actions of management that put the lives of these workers at risk.

*ENDS*

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For more information or media interviews, contact AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa.