Johannesburg – Sibanye Gold has dismissed claims that five non-striking members at its Beatrix mine were attacked by striking National Union of Mineworkers members, the company said on Friday.

“Sibanye Gold Protection Services have subsequently investigated the allegations and have confirmed that there is no record of the incident at the operations, or of the alleged victims at any of the hospitals and clinics in the region,” company CEO Neal Froneman said in a statement.

He said claims were investigated with the police, where necessary.

“The company’s protection wing maintained a visible presence throughout the strike, and had set up a 24-hour hotline for employees to report cases of intimidation or other illegal activity,” Froneman said.

On Thursday night, the Association of Mining and Construction Workers (Amcu) said five of its members were beaten up by striking NUM members.

“Our members were attacked by members of the National Union of Mineworkers [NUM] in the morning, they have been taken to hospital,” said Amcu secretary Jeff Mphahlele.

“Our members are not on a strike. We are still negotiating. We expect our members to report for duty without being intimidated.”

On Friday afternoon, the NUM denied the incident. 

“The NUM has investigated the matter and found that no such incident did take place during the very peaceful industrial action conducted by the peaceful union, NUM in the gold sector,” said spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka.

“The police have no record of such injured people and he [Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa] has failed dismally to point such people to the media. He has failed to tell where such injured people have been hospitalised.”

Lesiba accused Mathunjwa of trying to provoke violence.

Froneman said while there were sporadic incidents in the past week, the strike was relatively calm and peaceful.

Johannesburg – The Wonderboom Airport, north of Pretoria, has run out of jet fuel and aircraft operators have been told to bring their own.

“As a short-term solution, the tenants and aircraft operators based at Wonderboom Airport were granted the opportunity… to provide fuel for [their] own demand..” Tshwane municipality spokesperon Blessing Manale said.

“Please note that no permission is provided by the CoT [City of Tshwane] to any operator to sell fuel on the Wonderboom Airport premise.”

The city was informed in July that fuel shortages were experienced due to “unplanned product shipment delays” and that they could not obtain stock to supply the airport in time.

“We suspect that such [sic] might not be true as the supplier might have already started terminating his supply sub-contracts in anticipation of non-renewal.”

The city started with a procurement process to consider the appointment of a new service provider in April.

The tender was advertised and closed on 1 July.

“The consideration of the tenders and the tender evaluation results is still underway,” said Manale.

He said measures to address fuel provision were investigated.

“To ensure that similar problems do not occur, we are considering a standing fuel supply database of service providers which can be used on needs basis,” he said

“This will ensure that suppliers improve their quality of service, and in general do not hold the city to ransom when such service providers underperform.”

The city apologised for the inconvenience.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The electricity at former president Nelson Mandela’s home in Houghton, north of Johannesburg, has been restored, City Power said on Saturday.

“The lights are back on at Madiba’s house,” City Power spokesperson Sol Masolo said.

Houghton’s electricity was restored on Friday night.

Mandela’s home was among those hit by widespread power outages in Johannesburg this week following an unprotected strike City Power employees, who were unhappy about a new shift system being implemented.

Earlier, Masolo said power had been restored to all areas in Johannesburg.

Mandela was discharged from the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria on Sunday to recuperate at home following a lengthy stay for a recurring lung infection.

His home has been reconfigured to ensure he receives the correct care, and some staff who had been at the hospital are also caring for him at home.

His condition was last described by the presidency as critical and stable, but at times unstable.

Members of the media continued to keep watch outside Mandela’s home on Saturday.

Cameramen and reporters took shelter from the heat under gazebos directly across Mandela’s home, while others sat in their cars.

Neighbours and visitors were seen taking pictures outside the home where messages of support had been laid.

Two police cars were parked at the corner of the house, and another eight cars parked near the gate, one with a military number plate.

SAPA