Forbes Coal workers to march

Johannesburg - Striking Forbes Coal workers will march from the Dundee Town Hall to the company's offices on Friday over pay demands and to protest about the deaths of two colleagues, the NUM said.

"We will continue expressing our concerns until our demands are met," said National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Bongani Manyoni.

Operations remained suspended at Forbes & Manhattan Coal's Magdalena bituminous mine and Aviemore coal mine, in Dundee, after about 750 workers went on a strike in terms of the Labour Relations Act, the company said.

Manyoni said the workers' demands were the same.

They wanted a salary increase, decent housing, a decent living allowance, for the company to comply with and implement the mining charter and to abide by its social development obligations in the area.

"The employer, as a member of society, is not contributing. People who are being killed are coming from this community," he said.

The NUM had the support of the Association and Mineworkers Construction Union (Amcu), which was also recognised at the mine, Manyoni said.

"We are not going to separate ourselves as workers," he said.

Two miners were shot dead on Wednesday during an alleged attempt to charge and enter the company's explosives storage facility, during a protest at the company's Magdalena mine near Dannhauser.

Police seized firearms from Mbube Security guards to determine who fired the fatal shots.

Colonel Jay Naicker said forensics results would help police decide whether there would be arrests.