Johannesburg - Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS] (Amplats) workers
were meeting at the Bleskop stadium near Rustenburg on Tuesday following a
clash between security guards and workers.
One of the workers, Stephen Ngwai, said they wanted those
who were at Siphumelele shaft to brief them about the incident on Monday.
"They will brief us and later we will decide on a way
forward," he said.
Workers' leader Gaddafhi Mdoda earlier said workers from all
shafts did not report for work on Tuesday. Instead, they met at the Bleskop
stadium.
"We want to do away with Anglo management. Details will
be disclosed at the meeting," he said.
North West police said a mineworker was in a critical
condition in Johannesburg following clashes at the mine.
"There is one very critical person at the moment,"
Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.
He denied reports that a mineworker was killed in the clash
between security guards and workers on Monday, in which several people were
injured.
The critically injured person was taken to the Milpark
hospital, in Johannesburg, with head injuries.
"The person was hit by a blunt object," he said.
Ngubane said 13 people were injured at the Siphumelele
shaft.
"Some of the people were hacked with pangas and sharp
objects, while others were shot with security rubber bullets," Ngubane
said in a statement.
"A group of about 1 000 strong... attacked four people
who were at the union offices. Mine security intervened and fired rubber
bullets, and in the process a total of 13 mineworkers, including four security
guards, (were injured)."
Amplats spokesperson Mpumi Sithole said the workers'
committee members were contesting the National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) legitimacy
at the mine and had demanded that NUM vacate its offices.
"The company is currently in the process of validating
union membership at Rustenburg and the mines north of the Pilanesburg,"
she said in a statement on Monday.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said there had been no union
membership verification, and that the NUM still held its status as the dominant
union.
In August, Amplats fired 12 000 strikers from its operation
in Rustenburg. The workers were later re-employed.
Last year, the North West town was the scene of violent
mining protests in which scores of people died.
Follow Fin24 on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.