People gathered at the main gate on Wednesday, January 21.
While most of the people were from eMalahleni, others were from Phola, Secunda and Bronkhorstspruit. Most claimed that they heard rumours about jobs, others said they heard from people working at Kusile.
Others are believed to have slept at Kusile overnight to be the first in the queue. More than 2 000 are believed to have been at Kusile in the early hours of the morning.
“I came here at about 08:00 after I hear rumours that people were to be hired. I have come prepared with my CV, only to be told by the police that there were no jobs. Nobody from Kusile came to address us. Police asked us where we heard about the rumours,” said one of the job seekers.
A 31-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal said he has not been employed for the past five years and has been looking for a job since then. He explained that he is a married man with eight children.
A 28-year-old woman said she was originally from Lesotho and was staying in Phola. She has two young children, whose father died in 2006 and she does not have parents. “I rely on piece jobs and my last job was at a guesthouse. It lasted only three months,” she explained.
Police from Ogies and Kriel said they were called in and found thousands of people milling near the main gate.
Police from Ogies, Kriel and KwaMhlanga were there to maintain order.
Cars, taxis, buses and lorries were seen parked along the road leading to the main gate.
While a lot of the people were seen hitchhiking back to their homes, others remained near the main gate at the road hopeful that they might be hired.
Others took the opportunity to sell meat and food along the road.
Kusile promised to issue a media statement.
