Sibanye Gold's Cooke mining operation. File picture: Supplied Sibanye Gold's Cooke mining operation. File picture: Supplied
Johannesburg - Sibanye Gold on Wednesday resumed its Cooke 4 operations following clashes between members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), which left four miners injured.
The clashes were as a result of illegal industrial action, which started on Monday. The action was called off on Tuesday.
The NUM alleged that its members had been attacked by Amcu. Sibanye said yesterday that disciplinary action would be taken against those responsible for the violence.
“Management will take appropriate disciplinary action once the investigation into the attacks has been concluded,” Sibanye said.
The Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, called on the firm to take steps to protect its workers.
“The company should ensure that the workers democratic right to choose to work is protected, as much as the right of others to strike is protected in terms of the law,” he said.
Zwane said stability in the mining industry was critical for the sustainability of jobs and for economic growth.
In 2012, more than 40 people were killed in Marikana in a turf war between the NUM and Amcu.
BUSINESS REPORT