Open the mine or face more protests-Takelfkop residents

Disgruntled residents of Taffelkop outside Grobpersdal in Sekhukhune have warned owners of Blueridge Mine to open it for operations or face running protests.

Residents marched on the mine on Monday with their demonstration supported by trade union GIWUSA. ( General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA).

Giwusa President Mametlwe Sebe led the union’s delegation to the protest and slammed the mine for a lack of transparency and of possibly closing the operation for ulterior motives.

“What we witness in Tafelkop is not misfortune—it is the logic of capital in its decay and crisis of profitability. When mines close, communities lose jobs and wages; they are sentenced to hunger, to mud houses and shacks without light, to young and old ppeople without futures. This is how capitalism manages its crises: on the backs of our people. Capital does not close mines because it has run out of rock—it closes them because there is no sufficient profit to be made – regardless of whether the minerals are still there or not and most importantly, regardless of the consequences for the workers, their families and communities,” said Sebei.

GIWUSA said it’s president’s participation in the march is consistent with the attitude of its motherbody, trade union SAFTU ( South African Federation of Trade Unions) to always side with the poor and marginalised.

“ President Sebei’s participation underscores the commitment of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) to which GIWUSA is affiliated, in its national campaign to combat the scourge of unemployment, mine and factory closures, and deindustrialisation,” said SAFTU.Sebei said there is a need to mobilise more communities to join protest action against mines which he said are generally exploitative.

“We demand the immediate reopening of Blueridge Mine—not tomorrow, not next year, but now. And we call on the communities of Bokoni, Twickenham, Baobab, and every broken mining community across the region and country: rise up and link with us in this struggle and campaign. Your struggle is our struggle. The closures that have stolen our jobs and livelihoods must be met with a movement that shakes the boardrooms and the state,” said Sebei.

Management at the mine could not be reached for comment.