JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mineral Resources Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi has called an urgent meeting with various stakeholders to discuss the dire situation at the Blyvooruitzicht (Blyvoor) mine, which was currently under liquidation.

“The most urgent matter we must address relates to the humanitarian challenges facing those who worked at the mine and who stay in surrounding areas. The meeting must come up with both short-term and long-term solutions,” the Minister said.

In March, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) marched to the mine’s head office, in Carletonville, to hand over a list of demands, including for the payment of monies owed to its members employed by the mine, where the workforce had not been paid since September 2013.

The union was also demanding that exit medical examinations be given to its members to allow them to look for other jobs, as the workers realised they had no future at the Blyvoor mine.

Further, NUM had asked the liquidators to immediately halt the sale of the village in which the workers lived, as no proper consultation with the community had been done.

Stakeholders expected to attend the meeting included representatives from the departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation, Justice and Constitutional Development and Social Development, as well as representatives from the Merafong City local municipality.

WATER ISSUES
At the beginning of June, AfriForum had approached the North Gauteng High Court for an order, compelling the Merafong municipality to implement steps that would ensure sufficient water supply to the Blyvoor community.

The community, which included churches, children’s homes, primary schools, nursery schools and households, had been without water since May 17, owing to a dispute regarding municipal accounts between the municipality and the Blyvoor mine.