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Vereeniging - The net is tightening around Aurora Empowerment Systems.
The embattled company has until Monday night to pay all that it owes, or it will be replaced by another, foreign company.
Pamodzi East Rand and Pamodzi Orkney liquidators Enver Motala and Johan Engelbrecht said in a joint statement that Aurora had until Monday night to pay all outstanding debts, such as that owed to Eskom and the workers' salaries.
On Thursday Aurora director Thulane Ngubane told Sake24.com that he was hopeful that the BEE group would have a new investor before Monday.
He said that Aurora would take full control of the mine next week - if it had the workers' cooperation.
The final return date for the liquidation of Pamodzi is the end of next week.
For the past five months Aurora has struggled to pay workers' salaries, as well as its electricity, water and telephone accounts. At the Pamodzi East Rand Grootvlei mine the only current operations are the pumping of water at shafts 3 and 4. All the other shafts' electricity has been disconnected since because Aurora owes Eskom more than R16m.
Meanwhile Gideon du Plessis, deputy general secretary of the Solidarity trade union, has said that a foreign company is busy assessing the viability of Grootvlei.
The mining company's name and origin are still unknown.
According to Du Plessis the company is doing a comprehensive feasibility study on the mine. Solidarity is also in discussions with the mining group, and things look positive.
As regards workers' fears that Aurora's directors will flee the country, Motala and Engelbrecht claim to be keeping a firm eye on them. They assure Pamodzi's creditors that their interests are being protected.
- Sake24.com
