[imagesource:gencraftai]

A week after 400 miners staged a sit-in that turned out to be a hostage situation at Gold One Mine in Springs, the drama has taken a sinister racial turn with allegations that white miners are being stripped naked and beaten.

Regional organiser of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Victor Ngwane, told Newzroom Afrika that there “was no voluntary sit-in being staged, but a hostage situation characterised by severe flogging of the workers underground, with racial bias.”

“What we know is that everyone who is underground is being held hostage now. There is no management managing the situation,” is quoted as saying to IOL.

“The latest (information) is that it has now escalated to a racial issue. There are white miners underground who are being humiliated,” he said.

“They are undressed, and they are being whipped from time to time. The perpetrators say if they beat up these white guys, management and government will listen to them.”

Over the weekend, miner appeared from the shaft with a note threatening to kill people if food was not lowered down within two hours. According to Ngwane, “The white miner who was brutally beaten and came to surface, he was naked. He came to the surface naked. They beat him up and left him by the station, they (perpetrators) called for the cage to come down and he was returned to the surface.”

It appears as if its not just the white miners being abused, but their black colluegues as well are being assaulted. Gwede Mantashe has also confirmed that it’s now a full-blown hostage crisis, and the police have taken over the dealings with the miners still being held underground.

“Once you begin to beat people up, it means they are held hostage. They are underground against their own will and therefore it should be dealt with as an offence that requires police intervention.”

During the same interview, Mantashe said “The perpetrators underground sent a threat which was said to be a message from Amcu the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), which demands a number of issues and must be responded to within two hours otherwise a miner who is underground will be thrown down the drain and die”.

Gold One Mine: White miners targeted for thorough beating underground, says National Union of Mineworkershttps://t.co/6q7ErGJWd1

— IOL News (@IOL) December 11, 2023

This is an ongoing story, so plenty more news will follow in the coming days. Hopefully the miners, whatever colour they may be, is brought to the surface soon.

[source:iol]