JOHANNESBURG Aug 27 (Reuters) – Workers at a mine run by junior producer Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) in South Africa were blocked on Monday from going to their posts by people believed to be colleagues, the National Union of Mineworkers said.
The incident is seen as a sign that labour unrest in the South African platinum belt could be spreading.
“Thirty people, some suspected to be workers, have instructed bus drivers not to ferry workers to Eastplats this morning. We don’t expect that there will be work at Eastplats today,” NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told Reuters.
Eastplats’ operations are not far from those run by world No. 3 producer Lonmin , which is in a race to resume ore extraction at its Marikana site where 44 people were killed in a wave of violence during an illegal strike that has not ended yet..
Company officials were not immediately available for comment.
The violence at Lonmin stems from a union turf war between NUM and the upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). Intimidating workers into not reporting for shifts is part of a pattern that has marked illegal strikes in the platinum sector this year.
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