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RBM fires five for fuelling protests

Five employees of Rio Tinto’s Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) mine, alleged to have been involved in fuelling community protests over jobs and contracts, have been dismissed following an investigation by the mining giant.

While the company has declined to provide details of the content of the probe, which cost Fundi Dlamini, the mine’s general manager for community and corporate liaison, and four supply chain management staff members their jobs, sources in RBM say it related to the diversion of company resources to fuel the protests.

Jobseekers at Kwambonambi, where the RBM smelter is located, and in nearby Sokhulu, another host community, have been protesting for several months, with two unsolved murders taking place since July this year.

On July 31, following a week of protests that closed the mine down, community youth leader Thokozani Mabika and his cousin were gunned down by assassins, who left a letter threatening to kill community leaders involved in unrest.

Last month, RBM human resources general manager Ronnie Nzimande was shot dead in a similar attack at his home in Meerensee suburb.

Nobody has been arrested in connection with either of the killings, which have increased tensions in the community and at the plant.

Economic development MEC Sihle Zikalala has attempted to broker a process to end the protests, which threaten the operation of the 40-year-old mine, which employs 2 000 full-time and 2 000 contract workers.

An RBM spokesperson said on Friday that Rio Tinto’s investigation into “potential breaches of its code of conduct announced last month has been concluded”.

The spokesperson declined to name the five employees, saying they “have left the business” and refused to discuss the nature of the probe or its outcome, saying that the “outcomes for the employees involved are a confidential matter”.

The spokesperson declined to say whether any criminal charges would follow or comment on what impact the dismissals would have on the process of negotiating new job opportunities and contracts with the communities, which Dlamini had spearheaded.

“We have a team in place to continue engaging with our relevant stakeholders,” the spokesperson said.

“RBM is committed to ensuring all employees act in accordance with Rio Tinto’s code of conduct, which requires the highest standards of ethical behaviour.

"We will continue to engage with employees, suppliers and the communities within which we operate in an honest, lawful and respectful way,” the spokesperson said.

Dlamini declined to comment.

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