Rustenburg – The three-day underground sit-in protest at Impala’s Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine in Rustenburg involving over 2 000 mineworkers ended Wednesday evening.
Announcing the end of the protest, Impala said all workers who were engaged in an illegal and unprotected underground protest at Impala Bafokeng have exited the underground workings and returned safely to surface.
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The mineworkers’ sit-in protest was without the support of the representative union.
“The protest action, initially involving 2 205 employees began at the North and South shafts of the operation’s Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine on 18 December 2023,” Impala said.
“By 14h50 today(Wednesday) all North Shaft employees had returned to surface and by 17:05 all South Shaft employees had returned to surface, with all 2 205 employees who initially participated in the protest now safely on the surface.
“Impala Bafokeng management’s primary focus over the past few days was on ensuring the health, safety, and security of our employees who were participating in the illegal protest.
“Implats is grateful the protest action concluded swiftly and without safety incidents given it occurred in the operation’s underground workings, in breach of safety regulations, and against a background of increasing incidents of a similar nature at other mining companies.”
The company said its focus now shifts to safely completing the planned operational shutdown at Impala Bafokeng ahead of the upcoming Christmas break, instituting required disciplinary processes, and securing the sustainability of the operation amid the low metal price environment.
