Money can’t replace lost loved ones – Sibanye-Stillwater

The loss of a loved one could not be replaced by any sum of money or related benefits, Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Neal Froneman said yesterday.

He said this amid calls from the families of last week’s casualties at the company’s Kloof Ikamva shaft in Westonaria for multimillion-rand settlements.

Still recovering from the loss of 12 employees in two unrelated underground mine incidents, Sibanye-Stillwater – the nation’s third-largest platinum and palladium producer, also featuring among the world’s leading gold producers – had “established support systems to assist the families of the deceased to cope financially after the loss of a breadwinner”.

Froneman said that it would be “inappropriate” for the company to publicly state the value of the monetary amounts that would be paid to the families, “in line with our benefits structure”.

Sibanye’s support systems and benefits were “the result of years of consultation with relevant stakeholders to ensure fairness”.

The benefits included support for children’s education through school and university; monthly grocery vouchers; lump sum compensation; funeral costs; pension and provident fund cover; death cover; Rand Mutual Cover; and building a house or doing renovations to an existing home for beneficiaries.

“We also offer replacement employment to a member of the family, while ongoing trauma counselling for families is also available,” said Froneman.

His reassurances follow fresh calls by beneficiaries of the five mineworkers who died in the recent incident at the Kloof Ikamva shaft in Westonaria for compensation amounting to R2 million per family, excluding the provident fund and other benefits.

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