More than 2,000 Impala Platinum Mine employees are still underground on Tuesday at Bafokeng Rasimone Mine in the North West.
The workers are currently engaged an illegal strike at two of the shafts and have yet to state their demands or issues with management.
According to Implats, all operations at the mine have been suspended and management is working with unions to figure out why these workers have decided to go on strike.
Implats spokesperson Johan Theron reiterated that it was unclear what the miners are demanding.
“This was well-planned and well-timed. To keep more than 2,200 miners underground for any period of time is not a trivial matter,” Theron said.
This incident comes on the heels of job cuts in the industry and the fact that the mining industry has been hit hard by falling metal prices.
Implats have not ruled out that the strike could be based on a larger issue and a possible internal battle among union members.
“There’s always been good labour relations at the Rasimone mine, where about 80% of workers are represented by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM),” Theron noted.
PLATINUM MINE DISASTER
This illegal strike comes just after a shaft accident in Rustenburg that killed 12 workers.
In late November, a shaft accident at Impala Platinum Mine in the North West led to 12 miners dying.
Initially 11 mineworkers died when the personnel conveyance, also known as the cage, transporting the miners fell down a shaft, injuring at least 75 workers who were hospitalised.
A day later another worker died from injuries.
Theron said the incident was “so unusual and tragic”, as this transportation system of mineworkers was widely used in South Africa and other parts of the world.
He said the conveyance elevator has the capacity to carry up to 130 people over three levels, and there were 88 workers being brought up to the surface when the incident happened.
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