8 October 2002
The South African Communist Party (SACP) is outraged at the callous killing of 2 workers at the East Rand Proprietary Mines in Boksburg.
Four thousand members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at the ERPM mine went on strike on 03 October over complaints about their underpayment by Labour Circle Hire, a labour broker, contracted by ERPM. The company obtained a court interdict preventing the workers from entering the shaft area. Following refusal to leave by workers the company brought in the South African Police Services and the Gladiator Security to enforce the interdict. The SACP condemns the police and the security company who opened fire at unarmed and non-violent crowd of protesting workers.
This incident, together with the ongoing exploitation of workers at ERPM, bring to the fore the reality of neo-liberal restructuring of our economy based on sacrificing the South African working class through vocal and unashamed calls for the de-regulation of our labour market and downwards variation of labour standards including the use of labour brokers. The ERPM killings are the most concrete and literal manifestation of the onslaught on the working class by those who seek to restructure our economy on the carcass of the South African working class.
Labour broking seeks to bypass the labour relations framework and to undermine the rights workers have gained since 1994. In fact, labour broking is a threat to the existence of trade unions. This incident calls for a comprehensive and urgent into the whole labour broking industry. As the SACP we believe that labour broking goes against all what the workers of this country have achieved and undermines the labour market dispensation crafted since 1994.
For all the above reasons, we welcome the statement by the Minister of Labour, Shepherd Mdladlana that government will take speedy and appropriate steps to ensure that the ERPM killings are fully investigated. The SACP calls on government to also ensure that all those responsible for the killing are prosecuted and that the deceased families are compensated.
The SACP calls on the ERPM management to negotiate with the NUM to ensure that the demands for fair salaries, job security and fair working conditions are met.
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information and Publicity
South African Communist Party
Tel - 011 339 3621 Fax - 011 339 4244 Cell - 083 651 0271
Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za