Ex-mine workers and families accuse Mantashe, NUM of betrayal, demand ‘R40m, with interest'

News24

05-06-2025

Ex-mine workers and families claim they were promised unpaid wages and severance packages after ERPM's 1999 liquidation but have received nothing.
Union leaders, including Gwede Mantashe, pledged to invest the money for 10 years.
Victims say they are owed millions and they want it paid with interest.
More than two decades after the collapse of the East Rand Proprietary Mines (ERPM), former mine workers and their families are still demanding answers and their money.
When the ERPM was liquidated in 1999, at least 4 000 workers were affected. Many had worked deep underground for years, often in unsafe conditions.
In the aftermath of the mine's closure, workers say they were told that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), then under the leadership of its general secretary Gwede Mantashe, had received their settlement packages and would invest the money on their behalf.
The mine was shut down after years of low productivity and financial strain. In 1998, it went into provisional liquidation and closed permanently the following year. Since then, former workers and their families have been left in limbo.
This year, a group of ex-workers started organising under the Land and Minerals Movement, led by Zakhele Zuma. They held meetings, tracked down the paperwork and began pushing for accountability from both the NUM and the department of mineral resources and energy, which Mantashe now leads.
Workers claim that at least R40 million was handed over to the NUM, to be invested for 10 years. Now, 25 years later, they say they have not received a cent and believe the money has grown with interest.
In the Ramaphosa settlement on Gauteng's East Rand, Paulina Mokwena sits beside her husband, a former drill operator at the mine. He now struggles to walk, a condition she says was caused by injuries he sustained underground.
Mahlatsi Moleya
'When the mine closed, Mantashe and the NUM were involved,' she says. 'They said they had the money. Now my husband's dying, and we haven't seen a cent. If he dies without that money, what does that say about justice in this country?'
Former mine worker Leonard Maseko remembers the day the liquidators came in. He says it was then that the promises started.
We were told Gwede Mantashe and his team had negotiated with the mine bosses. Later, they said the amount was too little and the money would be invested for ten years.
Former mine worker Leonard Maseko
'That was more than 20 years ago. The money is there, they say, but Mantashe won't meet with us. No answers. No truth.'
Some former mineworkers believe they were deliberately kept in the dark while others allegedly received hush-money payouts.
"Hey, give people R2 on the corners,' says Maseko. 'Even Paul Kruger is said to be involved. But how? If the money is still in investments, where is that cash coming from?'
Juliet Adam lost both her parents to this fight. Her father, who worked at the mine from 1967, died of TB in 2002. Her mother died years later, still pursuing the unpaid benefits.
'My parents died broke,' Adam says.
We couldn't go to university, while others, like Mantashe's children, could. This fight has cost us everything.
Timothy Sibisi, who claims he worked as Mantashe's bodyguard before he became the minister of mineral and petroleum resources, says his recent denial of any knowledge about the ERPM mine workers is deeply painful.
I used to escort [protect] him every day. He was scared of being killed. I protected him. And now he says he doesn't know us.
Timothy Sibisi
Sibisi adds: 'It's betrayal, nothing less.'
Mahlatsi Moleya
Zuma, who leads the Land and Minerals Movement, has become a voice for the families. He says the group believes the outstanding amount is at least R40 million and that it should have grown with interest over the years.
'The figure is based on what former mine workers believe was owed in wages, packages and potential returns,' Zuma explains.
We want that R40 million and the interest. We've been patient for 25 years. It's enough.
Zakhele Zuma
Rumours of secret payouts have only deepened the mistrust.
'We hear that some people were given money under the table, R1 000 here and there,' says Maseko. 'Where's that money coming from if it's all 'invested'?'
The affected families say they have written to the NUM, Mantashe's office and the liquidators over the years but have received no proper response. Some say they have even been threatened or discouraged from pursuing the matter.
City Press can confirm that documentation exists showing the NUM was involved in the payment arrangements for the funds intended for the mine workers and their families. What remains unclear is how the money was managed and why no payments have been made to workers.
Timeline: A long wait for justice
1967: Juliet Adam's father begins work at the ERPM.
1998: ERPM placed under provisional liquidation.
1999: Mine shuts down; about 4 000 workers are affected.
Early 2000s: R40 million reportedly handed to the NUM to invest for 10 years.
2017: No payments made; affected families demand transparency from the union.
2025: Workers organise under the Land and Minerals Movement.
City Press contacted Mantashe and the NUM for comment. They had not responded by the time of publication. This is a developing story.