Poor safety practices flagged as mine worker dies

The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) has expressed outrage at the death of a worker at Valterra Platinum’s Mototolo Mine in Burgersfort Limpopo.
Initial reports indicate 55 year old Michael Ramodike, a Load Haulage Operator was performing panel cleaning activities at Rig 4 of Borwa Shaft when the fatal accident occurred.

An LHD machine is believed to have experienced an engine shutdown while in an articulated position. As the operator was disembarking from the cabin, the machine unexpectedly tilted, trapping him between the cabin door and the machine frame. Emergency response teams were immediately dispatched, but Ramodike was declared deceased at the scene.

The union condemned what it believes to be pursuit of profits by the mining industry at the expense of workers.

“This tragedy is not an isolated misfortune. It is the inevitable outcome of an industry that habitually places production targets above the lives of those who produce the wealth. For decades, mining capital has treated workers’ bodies as expendable components of the production process—maintained only as far as they generate profit, cared and kept safe only at the most basic cost for the companies, discarded and replaced when they break,” said GIWUSA in a statement.

“This death and every other fatal accident is an indictment of a system that extracts vast fortunes from the rock while offering those who descend daily into the earth only danger, chronic disease, and, far too often, an early grave,” said the union.

The union called for a thorough probe of the incident that will include labour representation.

 

*GIWUSA called for among others the following:

-A full transparent, worker‑led investigation

-That The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy inspects the mine’s books including shift and maintenance records.

-Comprehensive compensation for the Ramodike family —* Valterra Platinum Mining Company must pay full compensation that covers not only statutory benefits, but also emotional trauma, loss of income and support, psychological harm, and all future losses suffered by the family as a result of this preventable death.

-An immediate safety audit with teeth —Every LHD, every machine in every panel at Mototolo Mine and across all Valterra operations must be inspected by a joint team of union members and independent experts. Any machine that has been run beyond its safe life, any vehicle whose maintenance has been deferred to meet a production target, must be pulled out of service immediately.

-Industry‑wide accountability —The Department must initiate a review of safety compliance across the platinum sector.

“The recurring loss of workers in Limpopo and beyond is not an accident; it is the predictable result of cost‑cutting, under‑maintenance, and the relentless pressure to meet production quotas. This pattern must be broken.,” said the union.

My management could not be reached for comment at the time of publishing.