JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – An estimated 17 000 mineworkers marched to the Rustenburg offices of Anglo Platinum’s (Angloplat’s) Rustenburg operations on Wednesday afternoon, to demand an investigation into the disappearance of two workers.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is demanding an independent investigation into the disappearance of two of its members in 1991, and 2002 respectively.

NUM spokesperson Linzwi Kwezi said that both miners had gone underground at the Frank shaft, and had never been heard from again.

“The families of the missing persons are mounting pressure to find out what happened, and as NUM, we have a measure of leverage and are able to call on the masses to assist with management,” Kwezi said.

Angloplat spokesperson Simon Tebele said that production would not be affected by the march.

Tebele added that, directly after the disappearance of the two mineworkers, investigations were launched by members of the police, the Department of Minerals and Energy, members of management, as well as union representatives. However, the investigations were called off owing to a lack of information. Tebele stated that the investigations would only be restarted once new information was received.

Kwezi claimed that the initial investigations had only concentrated on the surface, and had never gone underground. “These people went underground. All records, including closed-circuit television footage show that they went underground, but never returned,” he added.

NUM was also demanding that a mineworker, who the union claimed died at the mine and was buried by management at the scene, be exhumed.