The African National Congress Youth League has threatened to shut down mines if some mines insist on continuing with retrenchments.
Today, the Youth League and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) youth structure staged a picket outside Minerals Council South Africa offices in Rosebank, Johannesburg and handed over a memorandum of demands to the CEO of the organisation.The picket follows an announcement by the mining sector, stating that Anglo American Platinum, Sibanye Stillwater and Impala Platinum will be retrenching thousands of workers
THREATENING TO SHUT DOWN MINE
ANCYL president Collen Malatji said mining companies have done nothing to give back to communities or the youth. He said only the wealthy have tasted the fruits. "The youth of this country gave us a mandate that they want economic freedom now and not later. We are no longer saying it's the future. We are saying we want it now. And we are saying that if that does not happen, there will be no mine here that will operate in the future. We call upon all our youth in all corners of this country to join us. We're going to wake up and close all the gates of the mines if they can't explain who the mines benefit," he said, addressing those who attended the protest.
A DAILY RISK
The ANCYL's spokesperson, Zama Khanyase, said miners who risked their lives daily to create wealth for others will have nothing to show should they be retrenched and communities would have gained nothing. "Mines are based in communities, yet we don't see them handing out enough bursaries or employing enough young people in those communities they are operating in. We have people who are in communities suffering health-wise because of the fumes from the mines they are based in, yet they are not benefitting in any way," he said. CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, Mzila Mthenjane, accepted the memorandum and said he commits to engaging the board of the council's executive as well as members in terms of how they go about resolving these issues. .