Amcu accused of welding shut entry and exit points as miners held hostage

Around 543 miners at the GoldOne Modder-East mine in Springs, east of Joburg were allegedly held hostage yesterday by members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

Of those, 480 were held underground and 63 on the surface.

Sources on site said night shift workers were prevented from surfacing while day shift members were unable to assume their duties.

Unconfirmed reports alleged that Amcu members welded entry and exit points shut, leaving a closely monitored single point of access to GoldOne’s property, who confirmed the incident.

NUM only recognised union at GoldOne

Employees said Amcu tried to force its way into the mine’s organised labour representation. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is presently the only recognised union at GoldOne.

“This is nothing short of an illegal hijacking of a mine,” said mining security expert Marius van der Merwe of QRF Task Team.

“For a trade union to assume control over private enterprise as a means to bully workers and management into submission is nothing short of criminal.”

By the end of yesterday, the hostages were still captives.

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There are a number of injuries among the hostages, according to GoldOne spokesperson John Haricourt, but the hijackers refused to allow them to go to the surface to receive treatment.

Haricourt said the mine relied on senior Amcu members to negotiate the release of the hostages.

“There is a police presence, but we were told by law enforcement that we were responsible for calming the situation, the safety of our workers and returning to operations. Law enforcement has taken a perimeter seat until now,” he told The Citizen late yesterday afternoon.

A local community WhatsApp group warned of a tense situation that could turn violent at any time. Messages also noted that Amcu attempted to get a general strike going, but nothing happened due to lack of interest.

Unconfirmed rumours Amcu members attempted to cut ventilation

“There has been a CCMA and court process in terms of recognition for Amcu along with a proposed strike. Presently, there is no agreement in place with Amcu and the strike was later put on hold,” said Haricourt.

Emergency services and private security maintained a visible presence. There have also been unconfirmed rumours that Amcu members attempted to cut ventilation to the shafts.

“If that is true,” said Van der Merwe, “that is attempted murder or, at the very least, assault.”

Ekurhuleni council whip Simon Lapping didn’t mince his words. “First, we had the construction mafia, illegal mining, and now trade unions are given the power to flex their muscles and hijack entire mines, kidnap and hold hostage hundreds of people underground.

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“This is criminal. It is also just another sign of the absolute decimation of society and the absence of law and order. It is disgusting. Shame on you, Amcu.”

Democratic Alliance’s constituency head for Springs, Ashor Sarupen, called for the immediate release of the hostages. “It is crucial that those responsible for this illegal and dangerous act be held accountable,” he said.

“We expect law enforcement agencies to act swiftly in investigating and bringing those behind this incident to justice. We also call upon Amcu to cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities and facilitate the safe release of the miners,” he said.

Haricourt could not be drawn further on any civil action or whether GoldOne will be laying criminal charges.

Amcu denies allegations of hostage situation

Amcu did not respond to request for comment. However, Scrolla.Africa quoted Amcu general secretary Jeffrey Mphahlele, who reached the site after the incident unfolded, as denying the allegations of a hostage situation.

He said out of GoldOne’s 1 870 employees, 1 700 are Amcu members, implying the representation they are demanding was important.

“Management cannot just come and say it is a hostage situation. It is not true,” he said.

Events like this are not unprecedented in South African mining. Miningmx reported that 50 employees at Marikana mine in Rustenburg were held hostage over two nights in May 2022.

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