Phalaborwa unemployment association president threatens to shut down PMC mine

President of the Ba-Phalaborwa Business and Unemployment Association (BBUA) Louis Malatji has threatened to shut down all mining activities in Palabora Copper (PMC) if the company does not reconsider their answer to the demands BBUA had raised on January 24, reports Letaba Herald.

Malatji said that when the BBUA decide to go on a full-blown strike, no one would be able to stop them, not even the police.

“We are prepared to die for our rights and the land of our forefathers,” said the BBUA president.

ALSO READ: UPDATE: Phalaborwa mining accident that claimed six lives probed by police

“The minister of mineral resources, Gwede Mantashe, and the president of South Africa will have to come down here when we go on full strike and we will,” he continued.

The BBUA handed a memorandum to PMC outlining their demands from the mine, which starts with the insistence for service providers from outside Phalaborwa to subcontract 40% of the contract/project value to black local companies.

Malatji also said that the mining directors should take the association seriously, depart from their “hard-headed-stance” and also remove a number of employees – namely Ravin Gareep, Zulu Shikati, and Alfred Ramoshaba with immediate effect, as he believed that these individuals were anti-transformation – for the sake of the mine and the community it was supposed to enrich.

Some of the demands listed on the memorandum stated that all trucks transporting magnetite from Phalaborwa must sub-contract 40% of the contract value to black local companies; all employees working under cleaning services should be permanent PMC employees; two members of the association should form part of all the workers’ interview process; and that PMC should employ at least one family member from the families of those who perished during the mining accident that claimed six lives in 2018.

The Palabora Mining Company officially acknowledged the memorandum, stating that “we note your desire to participate in the business of Palabora Copper. The company has good working relationships with the community through various regulatory structures and community endorsed by the Ba-Phalaborwa Community Forum (BCF)” in response to the demands raised by the BBUA.

The mine also stated that the structure was presented to the company by the community chiefs, mayoral office, provincial government representative and trade unions.

“Working together for the past 6 years has yielded positive results for the community and the business and has ensured stability of the economic activity in our region. The current arrangement with the community seems to have produced positive results so far and we would like to continue working together with the community in a way that ensures sustainability of the business operations,” the mine stated in their response.

It mentioned that the demands which were mentioned in the BBUA memorandum were seeking to address issues that were already in the scope of existing structures.

The mine agreed to have a number of national or international firms assisting them in building a new mine to prolong the life of the current mine, “some of the work carried out by these entities, is of such a special and technical nature that we need them.”

However, Malatji, feels the mine’s response is not good enough and is not what they had expected.

“We will stop all operations at the mine and even sleep by the gate if need be. Our people are starving whilst people from outside are being employed,” stated the BBUA president.

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