09 October 2002
The General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) will visit and address workers at the East Rand Proprietary Mines (ERPM) as detailed below.
DATE - Thursday, 10 October 2002
TIME - 12h45 - 113h45
VENUE - ERPM Mine, Boksburg
Four thousand members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at the ERPM mine went on strike on 03 October over complaints about their underpayment by Labour Circle Hire, a labour broker, contracted by ERPM. The company obtained a court interdict preventing the workers from entering the shaft area. Following refusal to leave by workers the company brought in the South African Police Services and the Gladiator Security to enforce the interdict.
In response to these developments, earlier this week, the SACP called for a full investigation into the ERPM killing and the practice of labour broking as it undermines the rights of workers achieved since 1994.
"The ERPM killings are the most concrete and literal manifestation of the onslaught on the working class by those who seek to restructure our economy on the carcass of the South African working class", said Blade Nzimande, SACP General Secretary.
Nzimande's visit and address will support the ERPM workers in their just and legitimate struggle.