Latest news with #NUM
News24
a day ago
- Business
- News24
Ex-mine workers and families accuse Mantashe, NUM of betrayal, demand ‘R40m, with interest'
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.
IOL News
a day ago
- Business
- IOL News
Mulilo dodges questions over R9. 5 billion battery tender linked to ex-Eskom COO
Both the BBC and NUM raised concerns that Mulilo, chaired by Jan Oberholzer, former Eskom Chief Operating Officer, may have had an unfair advantage. Image: File picture Mulilo Energy, the company recently awarded a multi-billion-rand battery storage contract under South Africa's Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, has dodged IOL's questions regarding concerns over the bidding process. IOL previously reported that the contract, which forms part of the government's efforts to enhance the country's energy security through battery storage, sparked criticism from the Black Business Council (BBC), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and political parties. Both the BBC and NUM raised concerns that Mulilo, chaired by Jan Oberholzer, former Eskom Chief Operating Officer, may have had an unfair advantage. Oberholzer served as Eskom's COO from 2018 until July 2023, a period marked by challenges for the utility, including financial difficulties and worsening load-shedding. "Oberholzer's company had an unfair advantage as he had access to privileged information about Eskom's requirements that other bidders did not have (as an insider)," BBC CEO Kganki Matabane said. Meanwhile, the NUM described the situation as 'a clear case of a revolving door—where an individual transitions from a position of immense public influence at a state-owned entity to a private company that benefits directly from policies and initiatives he once championed.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading What we asked How do you respond to the BBC's claim that Mr. Oberholzer's former Eskom role gave Mulilo an unfair advantage? The NUM says this looks like a 'revolving door' between Eskom and private companies. What is your response? The MK Party has asked for transparency regarding the bidding process. Could you please share how Mulilo ensured fairness and openness? What due diligence did Mulilo perform on its leadership and potential conflicts of interest before bidding for this government contract? What Mulilo answered Mulilo emphasised that the contract was awarded through a government-led process and directed all procurement-related inquiries to the Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) and the Department of Electricity and Energy for comment. "We note the media interest following the announcement that Mulilo has been awarded preferred bidder status for four projects under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESSIPPPP). "As this was a Government-led process, we encourage that all procurement-related enquiries should be forwarded to the Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) and the Department of Electricity and Energy for comment. "As a South African company deeply committed to our country's energy transition, Mulilo remains focused on delivering solutions that support energy security, create socio-economic value, and accelerate the shift to a sustainable, low-carbon future." Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has reportedly defended the awarding of the tender to Mulilo, saying the process was subjected to 'rigorous legal, technical, and financial due diligence, consistent with national legislation and the prescripts of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, including the objectives of ensuring that public procurement fosters inclusive growth for previously marginalised communities, including women and youth,' the department said, according to Moneyweb. IOL
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sir Bill O'Brien, miner and Labour MP who twice took on Arthur Scargill and won
Sir Bill O'Brien, who has died aged 96, was a Yorkshire miner who became a Labour MP and front-bench spokesman after twice getting the better of Arthur Scargill. A face worker at Glasshoughton Colliery, branch secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers and a political moderate, O'Brien first fell foul of the Yorkshire miners' Marxist leader in 1976 when he co-operated with the Sheffield Star in a libel case brought against it by Scargill over alleged favouritism in his deployment of pickets during a strike two years before. The NUM's Scargill-dominated Yorkshire executive accused O'Brien and Tom Roebuck, former branch secretary at Manvers Main Colliery, of letting the paper's solicitors see confidential correspondence between Scargill and their branches, and suspended them from office for two years. O'Brien and Roebuck took the NUM to court. Representing them, Derry Irvine, the future Labour Lord Chancellor, argued that Scargill had been out for 'a conviction at all costs' to punish them for their 'temerity'. He had compiled a report on their actions five days after winning his case – and £3,000 in damages – then chaired the disciplinary hearings himself. Judge Rubin ruled that the suspensions were a contempt of court, and granted injunctions lifting them. The executive retaliated by ignoring an order to pay the men's costs. O'Brien took on Scargill again in the run-up to the 1983 election, when the veteran Labour MP for Normanton, Albert Roberts, retired. The hard Left in the NUM saw a chance to boost its influence at Westminster by replacing Roberts, who had supported the Spanish dictator General Franco, with one of their own. But O'Brien, who listed one of his recreations in Who's Who as 'organising', rounded up delegates to defeat Scargill's nominee, Henry Daley, and instal O'Brien himself as candidate instead; he was duly elected. Despite his antipathy to Scargill, O'Brien steadfastly supported the miners during the painful and divisive strike of 1984-85. He condemned pit closures as stemming from lack of investment in 99 per cent of cases, and pressed for arbitration to bring the dispute to an end. O'Brien had nine years on the Labour front bench, as a spokesman first on the environment and then Northern Ireland. A solid performer – though some said bumbling – he staunchly opposed abortion, and voted against televising the Commons. He was also one of the MPs who in 1988 could not help overhearing the 'high old time' enjoyed by their colleague 'Afghan' Ron Brown and his female researcher in a male-only Commons shower cubicle. William O'Brien was born in Castleford on January 25 1929 and brought up in the town, attending St Joseph's Roman Catholic school (he would later gain an education degree from Leeds University). He went down the pit at 16, joining the Labour Party as well as the NUM. He first took on the Left in the union in 1973, when he stood for Yorkshire secretary against Owen Briscoe, a Scargill ally. He lost, but his challenge was not forgotten. O'Brien was elected to Wakefield council the same year, chairing its finance committee and becoming its deputy leader. He was also a Wakefield JP. He became MP for the heavily redrawn Normanton constituency in 1983, when Labour's majority of 4,143 was its lowest for half a century; the outcome was never that close again. His first action at Westminster was to nominate Roy Hattersley as leader against Neil Kinnock. In 1987 he was one of 16 defiantly working-class MPs to join the 'Rambo tendency' semi-humorously founded by Joe Ashton to offset the number of academics and the like on the Labour benches. He had put in sound work on the Public Accounts Committee and the Energy Select Committee, and that summer Kinnock made him an environment spokesman. O'Brien led the charge against a Bill restricting the rights of council employees to take part in party politics, a measure he said infringed civil liberties. In November 1990, between Sir Geoffrey Howe's dramatic resignation speech and Michael Heseltine's challenge that toppled Margaret Thatcher, O'Brien urged Michael Portillo, the local government minister, to 'line up with Heseltine and say let's scrap the poll tax altogether'. Around this time, he helped win £14,000 compensation from the Home Office for a woman constituent with psychiatric problems who had been detained for 16 months for a murder she did not commit. She had been remanded on charges of killing her father, and was only transferred from prison to a secure mental unit after protests from O'Brien. After her conviction was quashed she was moved to a hospital. Replacing Kinnock after the 1992 election, John Smith moved O'Brien to Labour's Northern Ireland team. By the time Tony Blair returned him to the back benches in 1996, government contacts with Sinn Fein – supported by Labour once they became public – had made peace in the province a real possibility. Pit closures continued throughout O'Brien's 22 years in the Commons. In 1993 he took up complaints from householders near Sharlston Colliery about subsidence caused by work on the final seam before it was to close. From 1997 to 2005, he served on the Environment, Transport and Regions Select Committee. He gave up his seat aged 76 at the 2005 election, with Ed Balls, Gordon Brown's right-hand man, taking his place. He was knighted in 2010, in Brown's resignation Honours. Bill O'Brien married Jean; they had three daughters. Bill O'Brien, born January 25 1929, died May 18 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The National
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Ash Regan faces questions over 'ludicrous' costs of prostitution bill
Regan is seeking to criminalise the purchase of sex, something opposed by the sex worker pressure group National Ugly Mugs (NUM) which claims she has significantly underestimated the associated costs. In a financial memorandum submitted to the Scottish Parliament for her Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill, the Alba MSP claimed that it would cost as little as 50p to train 17,000 police officers in the new laws if the bill was passed. The memo said: 'There will also be one-off training costs for Police Scotland to prepare for the introduction of the new offence. READ MORE: 'Multiple serving MSPs have paid me for sex', former sex worker tells Ash Regan 'The estimated cost of delivering a two-hour training session to all approximately 17,000 Police Scotland officers, assuming the training is conducted in-house during normal working hours, is approximately £17,000 to £85,000.' At the higher end of the scale, Regan estimates that it would cost £2.50 to train every officer per hour. But the same document states that Police Scotland estimates the hourly rate of officers at £79.50. The total cost of enforcing the new laws would be £2.6 million, falling to £2.2m annually thereafter. Regan estimates that securing charges in a case would take 'on average an additional six hours of police work' and that this would amount to each case costing £477. NUM said her figures were 'laughably false'. READ MORE: Former sex worker supports Ash Regan bid to criminalise buying sex Lynsey Walton, chief executive of NUM, said: 'As the UK's national sex worker safety charity, NUM works with police forces across the country to support sex workers during investigations. This means we know that Regan's estimates of police time needed to enforce her proposed legislation are laughably false, just like her ludicrous claims that it costs just 50p an hour to train officers. 'Sex worker groups, alongside NGOs like Amnesty and the World Health Organisation, oppose the new law on the grounds that it will make life more difficult and dangerous for sex workers, while costing taxpayers millions of pounds a year to enforce.' Regan was approached for comment.
Fox News
24-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
Sibanye workers begin to surface after accident at South African gold mine
Nearly a third of the 260 miners stuck underground following an accident at a Sibanye-Stillwater SSWJ.J gold mine in South Africa were brought to the surface on Friday, the company said, as a senior union official confirmed there had been no injuries. The miners were stuck underground after the hoist system used to access a shaft at the Kloof gold mine - one of Sibanye's deepest, situated about 37 miles west of Johannesburg - was damaged in an accident on Thursday. Sibanye said 79 of the employees had been brought to the surface by 1:30 p.m. local time in the first phase of an operation to extract the miners. "The remaining 181 employees ... have been provided with food and will be hoisted to surface as soon as safety to hoist is confirmed," Sibanye said in a statement. A company spokesperson told Reuters late Friday afternoon that the process was expected to be completed "soon." "Fortunately there were no fatalities or injuries," National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Health and Safety Chairperson Duncan Luvuno told journalists at the site. "But for ... 24 hours people were not eating or drinking anything. This is not adequate. Some have chronic diseases." Journalists were barred by security guards from getting near to the mine shaft, but a Reuters reporter saw some of the miners, looking tired but in good health, walk to the perimeter of the company grounds and board buses. Relatives of those still in the mine, however, expressed shock and worry that their loved ones remained underground. "I haven't slept a wink," said Mamodise Mokone, whose husband was among the miners. "I just want to tell the management or whoever is in charge: I just want my husband out alive." Sibanye earlier said all the workers were safe after what it called a "shaft incident" in the Kloof 7 shaft and were gathered at an assembly point as efforts were launched to bring them out of the mine. Johannesburg-based Sibanye is among only a few South African miners squeezing profits from some of the world's deepest and costliest gold mines. Sibanye is digging for gold at depths of roughly two miles at the Kloof 7 shaft. The Kloof mine, which accounts for 14% of Sibanye's total gold output, also operates two other shafts. The company mines platinum-group metals in South Africa and the United States as well. Mining accidents are not uncommon in South Africa, where many abandoned mines have been taken over by informal diggers. Earlier this year, at least 78 bodies were pulled from an illegal gold mine after police cut off food and water supplies for months in an attempt to crack down on illegal mining activity.
