News24 | Gold One miners will surface, ending standoff – AMCU

The remaining mineworkers at the Gold One mine in Springs are expected to emerge from underground today.

• Representatives of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union announced that their underground protest at the Gold One mine in Springs would end on Wednesday afternoon.
• AMCU organiser at the mine, Musa Khalipha, claimed they were told that the miners had given up and would come out. 
• Police said interviews with some of those who surfaced indicated that a small group held others hostage.

Several hundred miners who have remained underground for three days at the Gold One Mine in Springs will resurface on Wednesday afternoon, representatives from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) said. 

This would bring an end to the three-day stand-off which has gripped the mine. 

The impasse was set in motion on Sunday night by AMCU, purportedly backed by several hundred workers, who demanded that the union be recognised by mine bosses. This would upend a legacy recognition agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), in place since 2012, who claim their members are being held against their will.

While AMCU maintains that the sit-in was not forced upon the miners, NUM and mine bosses said those underground were victims of a protracted hostage drama.

In a statement on Wednesday, police spokeswoman Brigadier Brenda Muridili said many were held captive by a group of 15 men. "It has been confirmed by those [miners who had surfaced] that they were indeed held against their will by a group of about 15 or so," she said.

The police took control of the scene on Tuesday night and questioned the miners who managed to come to the surface.

Two paramedics and a security officer are among those held underground.

"The police and other role players will remain on site until the situation has been resolved," she added.

A man, who spoke to News24 on condition of anonymity, said his son had been held but managed to escape.

"I am relieved that my son is safe and alive. He was among those trapped underground. My son is a NUM member. I am not worried about his affiliation to any union. All I want to see him safe," the father said.

The man joined other relatives waiting outside the main gate.

"My son told me that he and more than 100 others escaped after those who kept them captive walked to the other side of the mine. He claimed they then used escape routes to walk to the surface area. He is safe. He is coming home," the father said.

A woman claimed her husband was among those who were still underground.

"What we heard is that they were hungry and thirsty. They must be released. My children want their father back home," she said.

"I haven't eaten anything since Monday. How can I eat when I don't know if my husband has eaten or not? This incident has affected me psychologically. Something must be done," she said.

Ziyaad Hassam, Gold One's head of legal, confirmed to News24 that an estimated 200 workers had resurfaced as of Wednesday morning, before the stand-off ended.

"Our information is that the ones that have resurfaced are generally the younger males that were trapped underground. I think they formed some sort of a common purpose and overpowered the smaller group that was holding them against their will," Hassam said.