Ex-miners struggling after liquidation
|Published
Johannesburg About 8 000 families are living without water and struggling to put food on their tables after another Gauteng gold mine was liquidated.
About 2 000 mineworkers were declared jobless after Blyvooruitzicht Mine outside Carletonville was liquidated on August 6, 2013.
Some of the employees had more than 40 years of service when liquidator Leigh Roering took control of the mine.
For almost two years, the workers lived with the hope that the liquidator or owner would return and give them their long-service payments.
While this was going on, the residents were supplied with free water and electricity.
However, the water supply was shut last week.
The mine owes the Merafong City Local Municipality R197 million for the water and had been defaulting since 2007.
On Wednesday, The Star visited the mine and joined countless residents as they walked long distances to fetch industrial water from a furrow.
All households in the mine village were without water. Only the three schools were spared because the Gauteng Department of Education had delivered water tanks to them.
Kebonyemodisa Teko, 65, was 20 when he came to work at the mine in December 1970. He had hoped to retire there this year but has little chance of getting a huge payout for his retirement.
“Our troubles started in 2013 when the two unions, Amcu (the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union) and NUM, fought over union control of representation,” Teko said.
“We stayed away from work for a long time.”
He recalled the mine owner telling the unions: “So you are on strike? You will cry.”
“He disappeared for ever until the mine was liquidated.”
On Wednesday, the women held a protest against the lack of water.
The liquidator could not be reached for comment.
baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za
The Star