JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Unpaid miner workers from Pamodzi Gold’s provisionally liquidated Orkney gold mine were facing starvation, emergency fund head Rev Sarel Oosthuizen told Mining Weekly Online on Thursday, as a trade union slammed two banks for their alleged lack of compassion.

Oosthuizen, a Dutch Reformed Church minister from Stilfontein West, warned that a socioeconomic tragedy was unfolding for between 2 800 and 3 000 unpaid miners while Solidarity attacked Standard Bank and Nedbank over penalties charged to stricken Pamodzi employees, and praised FNB and Absa.

“The people haven’t received salaries for more than two months,” Oosthuizen, vice-chairperson of the Pamodzi Orkney Emergency Fund, told Mining Weekly Online.

Solidarity had appealed to all four of the banks not to penalise employees for the late payment of debit orders, in light of Pamodzi Gold’s provisional liquidation, and to pay back penalties on late payments. During this period, the mine management repeatedly brought employees under the impression that their salaries would in fact be deposited.

Oosthuizen said that in 2005, when DRDGold’s Buffelsfontein gold mine went into liquidation, the North West provincial health department drew from an emergency provincial welfare fund to pay jobless miners R500 each.

This time around, however, the same department said they had no funds for unpaid Pamodzi Gold workers.

“We’re going to register the last pay slips and the identities all of the people next week,” Oosthuizen said.

First Rand Bank CEO Sizwe Nxasana said that the bank would repay all penalties levied on declined debit orders on employees’ accounts up to the end of July this year, and Absa managing officer for transactions Keith McIvor advocated that one-on-meetings take place as soon as possible..

Solidarity said it was aware of employees on whose accounts penalties of as much as R1 500 was charged because their debit orders could not be paid.

Provisional liquidators this week placed advertisements requesting companies to submit bids for Orkney, which has been placed on care-and-maintenance.

Also provisionally liquidated are Pamodzi Gold’s Free State and East Rand operations.

Liquidators want Orkney bids in by close of business on Monday, May 18 and the return date for all three provisional liquidations is May 26.

Solidarity has also established an emergency fund in Welkom to support the families of unpaid Pamodzi Gold employees.

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