LISTEN: Ramaphosa: Miners must refuse to work in unsafe conditions
President Cyril Ramaphosa has told mineworkers that they have the right to refuse to work in conditions that are deemed unsafe.
He was speaking at the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) elective congress in Johannesburg on Friday.
NUM revealed that at least 31 mineworkers have so far lost their lives this year.
“A mining executive said to me, 'Mr Ramaphosa, mining is a dangerous industry, it is like the military' and I said to him, 'the workers who have come to this industry to work and not to be killed and it is your responsibility to protect them’’, said Ramaphosa.
He said the time has come for the mining industry to start placing more value on the lives of its workers.
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“Shop stewards should become guardians for mineworkers to make sure they never ever have to work in any dangerous place in the industry. In the past, workers did not have any rights to refuse to work in a dangerous place, and today we have passed laws that if you perceive that a place is not safe you have the right to refuse to work there. Use this right.”
Ramaphosa described the R5 billion out-of-court settlement between six gold mining companies and workers who suffered silicosis and tuberculosis as a victory, saying for the first time mining companies have to take responsibility for their actions.