Johannesburg - Angry miners, who have accused the National Union of Mineworkers of having failed them, have vowed to attend the union’s rally at Olympia Stadium in Rustenburg on Saturday.
The miners said on Thursday they would use the occasion to push for their demands and expose the union’s failure to fight for their interests.
Miners who spoke to The Star on Thursday said many were going to attend the rally, “but it may not be a pleasant gathering”.
A miner said: “We understand it is going to be a big gathering and we’ll make sure that we’re seated on one side. There will be disruption of some kind just to show NUM that it has failed miners and it is not the majority’s union of choice anymore.
“Miners on strike are going hungry now because they have not been working and earning salaries, and this should not have happened had NUM represented them loyally.
“All that NUM is worried about now is strengthening [its] membership again while workers are still on strike, but we won’t allow them to take advantage of us once more.”
The union’s soured relations with some of its members among striking miners at Lonmin came to the fore in Marikana after Lonmin employees refused to be addressed by NUM president Senzeni Zokwana.
The NUM boss had wanted the strikers to return to work a day before 34 miners were shot dead by the police.
The strikers have accused the 30-year-old NUM of being obsessed with ANC leadership squabbles and striking mining deals at the expense of workers. They have accused the union of being in bed with mining companies.
Recently, a number of NUM shop stewards have been attacked and some killed in the Marikana area.
Eight Lonmin workers, most of whom have leading roles in the strike, have since been arrested, with at least five people arrested this week alone.
* The National Prosecuting Authority obtained a forfeiture order on Thursday to attach R78 265 in cash from illegal miners in the Free State.
The NPA’s Asset Forfeiture Unit was granted the order by the Bloemfontein High Court on the basis that the money came from unlawful activities, including theft, money laundering, and corruption, spokesman Phaladi Shuping said.
The 49 illegal miners, from Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa, were arrested at the Masimong, Unisel, Nyala, Eland and Bambanani Steyn mineshafts.
They all pleaded guilty after being arrested underground in the mineshafts and on their way to the exits.
The Star