More than 500 South African miners remained trapped underground for more than 36 hours on Tuesday due to a standoff between rival unions, police and unions said.
• Also read: Honeymoon couple killed by Islamic State in Uganda
• Also read: South Africa introduces new HIV prevention method
The origin and circumstances of the incident remain unclear: management at the Gold One mine, a suburb of Johannesburg, and the National Union of Miners (NUM), one of the two unions involved, claim that the miners are being “held hostage”. .
However, the Association of Miners and Construction Workers (AMCU) denied they were being held against their will and said they were taking part in a “sit-in” protest.
“Around 567 NUM members are being held hostage by suspected AMCU members,” NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mamburu told AFP.
These miners were scheduled to return to the surface Monday morning after their night shift, but remained in the mine. Among them are almost 70 women, Mr Mamburu said.
The conflict revolves around union representation in this gold mine, where NUM is currently the only officially registered group.
AMCU states that an overwhelming majority of miners have joined the union but do not yet have official representation, which they believe is the reason for the social movement.
“The workers will only withdraw once they have been given their right to organise,” AMCU regional secretary Tladi Mokwena told AFP.
Police are “on standby” and monitoring the situation closely while negotiations appear to be continuing, assured spokeswoman Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi.
According to NUM, the mine management, which did not respond to AFP’s queries, had sent carers and a security team with food for the miners, but the latter are now also being held underground.
“It is worrying that the crisis shows no signs of easing and law enforcement does not appear to be effectively dealing with the ongoing hostage crisis,” said Ashor Sarupen of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
The NUM, the country’s largest miners’ union, was founded in 1982 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, a former trade unionist.