An attempt by Australian mining boss Mark Caruso to prove the value of mining to Xolobeni villagers by giving them jobs on his Tormin mineral sands mine on the West Coast has not gone entirely to plan.
Opponents of Caruso’s bid to get a government licence to mine the Xolobeni dunes, the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) representing hundreds of villagers living on the edge of the dunes, said Xolobeni workers had been abandoning Tormin in anger, dismay and terror.
ACC deputy chairman Nzamo Dlamini said miners had been thrown out of mine accommodation, wages almost halved and hours increased, while there were allegations of bad language and aggression.
“One lady called saying she felt her life was under threat and that she was being beaten, and felt there were plans to kill her,” he said.
A friend of the committee had paid for her bus ticket home, he said.
On the plus side, Caruso’s Amadiba Development Trust (ADT) deputy chairman in Xolobeni, Mzeke Mnyamana, presented a picture to the Saturday Dispatch this week of 30 villagers aged 21 to 45 now living good lives because of the mine.
They were working in Tormin’s laboratories, were trained to drive dump trucks and to “cook the soil” (treat zircon), and were supporting families in Xolobeni.
He claimed their mine wages were far better than the money Xolobeni villagers earned in Durban, or working in KwaZulu-Natal sugar cane fields or in Port Edward making bricks.
“Others at Xolobeni don’t work. They just fish crayfish and sell them. Women sell seashells to the casino , or live on social grants,” Mnyamana said.
“They are supporting families and have cars. They are not getting paid peanuts and have equal rights according to employment equity law.”
Economist Dick Forslund, of the Alternative Information and Development Centre, put the number of Tormin jobs for Xolobeni people at 22, according to an annual report of Caruso’s company, Mineral Commodities (MRC).
Mnyamana said he recently worked for Tormin as an administrator in the procurement section and ended up doing “radiation protection monitoring”, scanning workers to see if they had picked up any radiation from minerals.
“The pay was great. I bought this car from a white lady and extended the bedrooms of my house by two to four.”
He denied he was still on Caruso’s payroll, saying he came home in December because he missed his wife.
Asked what he was doing for a living, he said “nothing”.
Commenting on the attitude of the Australian miners, Mnyamana said: “Mark Caruso is like other Australians. They like to say f**k and then they will suddenly come and say, ‘I apologise. I am not angry with you’. Australians are sometimes difficult.”
The Mail&Guardian reported last year that Tormin workers went on strike for four weeks from September 4.
The paper reported mine guards fired at a gyrocopter, management locked out workers, teargas was fired and there were 27 arrests, and 25 workers were suspended.
On their return, mineworkers’ wages were cut and hours increased.
Forslund said MRC working hours went up to 220 a month, 31 more than the legal upper limit of 189.
One of the suspended shop stewards, who asked not to be named, confirmed the wage cuts and increase in working hours.
“It is dangerous here. There is a task force of guards, the same guys who were at Marikana. They are heavy.” — mikel@dispatch.co.za
Mixed views on value of mining
Opponents of Caruso’s bid to get a government licence to mine the Xolobeni dunes, the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) representing hundreds of villagers living on the edge of the dunes, said Xolobeni workers had been abandoning Tormin in anger, dismay and terror.
ACC deputy chairman Nzamo Dlamini said miners had been thrown out of mine accommodation, wages almost halved and hours increased, while there were allegations of bad language and aggression.
“One lady called saying she felt her life was under threat and that she was being beaten, and felt there were plans to kill her,” he said.
A friend of the committee had paid for her bus ticket home, he said.
On the plus side, Caruso’s Amadiba Development Trust (ADT) deputy chairman in Xolobeni, Mzeke Mnyamana, presented a picture to the Saturday Dispatch this week of 30 villagers aged 21 to 45 now living good lives because of the mine.
They were working in Tormin’s laboratories, were trained to drive dump trucks and to “cook the soil” (treat zircon), and were supporting families in Xolobeni.
He claimed their mine wages were far better than the money Xolobeni villagers earned in Durban, or working in KwaZulu-Natal sugar cane fields or in Port Edward making bricks.
“Others at Xolobeni don’t work. They just fish crayfish and sell them. Women sell seashells to the casino , or live on social grants,” Mnyamana said.
“They are supporting families and have cars. They are not getting paid peanuts and have equal rights according to employment equity law.”
Economist Dick Forslund, of the Alternative Information and Development Centre, put the number of Tormin jobs for Xolobeni people at 22, according to an annual report of Caruso’s company, Mineral Commodities (MRC).
Mnyamana said he recently worked for Tormin as an administrator in the procurement section and ended up doing “radiation protection monitoring”, scanning workers to see if they had picked up any radiation from minerals.
“The pay was great. I bought this car from a white lady and extended the bedrooms of my house by two to four.”
He denied he was still on Caruso’s payroll, saying he came home in December because he missed his wife.
Asked what he was doing for a living, he said “nothing”.
Commenting on the attitude of the Australian miners, Mnyamana said: “Mark Caruso is like other Australians. They like to say f**k and then they will suddenly come and say, ‘I apologise. I am not angry with you’. Australians are sometimes difficult.”
The Mail&Guardian reported last year that Tormin workers went on strike for four weeks from September 4.
The paper reported mine guards fired at a gyrocopter, management locked out workers, teargas was fired and there were 27 arrests, and 25 workers were suspended.
On their return, mineworkers’ wages were cut and hours increased.
Forslund said MRC working hours went up to 220 a month, 31 more than the legal upper limit of 189.
One of the suspended shop stewards, who asked not to be named, confirmed the wage cuts and increase in working hours.
“It is dangerous here. There is a task force of guards, the same guys who were at Marikana. They are heavy.” — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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