NUM accuses Sibanye-Stillwater of trying to conceal that hundreds of miners trapped underground
About 300 miners have reportedly been underground at the Kloof mine in Westonaria, Johannesburg for more than 10 hours with no access to food or water.
A picture showing the Sibanye-Stillwater Masithembe mine shaft. Phill Magakoe / AFP
JOHANNESBURG - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has lashed out at Sibanye-Stillwater, accusing the company of trying to conceal an incident which has led to 300 miners being trapped in its mine overnight.
The miners have reportedly been underground at the Kloof mine in Westonaria, Johannesburg, for more than 10 hours with no access to food or water.
An alleged engineering failure led to an object collapsing on the shaft, trapping the miners.
But NUM said it was only alerted to the incident several hours after it had happened.
While a 12pm rescue was anticipated, there have been no reports of the miners resurfacing.
NUM spokesperson, Livhuwani Mammburu, said: "As the National Union of Mineworkers, we are disturbed and shocked that the company, Sibanye-Stillwater, wanted to keep this incident secret from the public and the media. The NUM was informed at around two o'clock this morning about the incident. The issue here is that they have not eaten or gotten access to water, and that is worrying for us."