Mining companies in South Africa were cleared to return to operation at a 50 percent capacity as part of a raft of amendments issued by the government to ease lockdown regulations and gradually increase capacity at a rate to be determined by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.

However, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Workers of South Africa is opposed to the move and was expected to head to court on April 21 in a bid to have the decision to allow mining companies to summon workers back to work declared unlawful and set aside.

The union says it is urgent and a "matter of life and death."

Fin24 reported that the case will be heard in the High Court in Gauteng, respondents include the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, the Minerals Council of South Africa, the Minister of Police and the Minister of Health, among others.

In the meantime, companies were required to adhere to strict health and safety regulations, aimed at limiting the spread of the virus.
But AMCU says the underground conditions related to mining would make this difficult.

Companies such as Impala Platinum have told workers to prepare for a gradual return to work, in a process the company said would be subject to health screening. The company said the call to return to work was "specifically aimed at ensuring a safe and orderly return to work after the provision of the lockdown are lifted".

But AMCU is not convinced by either the government's regulations or mining companies' assurances.

"AMCU cannot allow its members to report for duty in circumstances where it has not been privy to any framework or ramp-up plans, and cannot be assured that its members are safe," it said.

The court papers, which list the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Director-General in the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy as other respondents, further argue that the consequences of the amendments to the lockdown regulations could result in the "unnecessary rapid spread of the virus...and deaths of thousands of people."

In its notice of motion, AMCU cites the normally congested cages that take workers underground as a typical example of conditions that do not allow for adequate physical distancing guidelines, as well as confined work spaces underground.

"The decision is unreasonable and unconstitutional," the notice argues.

Speaking to Fin24, AMCU leader Joseph Mathunjwa said mining bosses had ignored the union's call for a formation of a Covid-19 task team, which would be tasked with developing with measures protect the employees.

"We are against the knee-jerk approach adopted by government to address the Covid-19 pandemic on the mining industry," he said, adding that those who had been called back to work must heed the call. He insisted, however, that workers had a right to refuse to work under dangerous conditions.

Photo: AngloAmerican’s Tumela Mine in South Africa.