Liberty Coal commits to re-employing former optimum mine workers
HENDRINA – Liberty Coal reaffirms its commitment to re-employing former Optimum mine workers. This comes after a group of these former employees marched to the mine’s offices in Pullenshope on Thursday, April 18, 2024, demanding reinstatement.
Howard Pyos, Liberty Coal’s general manager, emphasised their commitment to the employees retrenched in 2019 when the mine entered business rescue amid Gupta-related corruption allegations. “Our commitment remains unchanged. We are prepared to honour it,” Pyos said.
The employees submitted a memorandum to Liberty Coal, now the mine’s owner, seeking re-employment. “We want a face-to-face meeting with Liberty Coal management to understand our re-employment prospects,” the memorandum read.
On April 8, a 104-carriage electric train arrived at the mine to transport coal to Richards Bay, following the lifting of train allocation suspensions by Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). The North Gauteng High Court had earlier endorsed an agreement transferring the mine’s assets from the Guptas to Liberty Coal.
These developments suggest the mine is re-opening, with various companies seen conducting repairs and maintenance at the site. However, Pyos clarified the mine’s operational status. “While Liberty Coal received its first Durban’s train last week after a 15-months hiatus, the impact of evacuating this coal is minuscule in terms of the size and scale of recapitalising the mine sustainably. This means that the mine is not currently fully operational and it will take time to ramp up operations,” he expalined.
Concerns were raised about some National Union of Mine Workers (NUM) leaders allegedly having business interests in the mine. “We no longer trust these NUM leaders; their business interests inside the mine raise transparency questions,” the former employees said.
NUM regional secretary Bizzah Motubatse clarified that those accused of having businesses in the mine aren’t NUM members. He assured continued engagement with Liberty Coal to ensure re-employment. “We are going to write them a letter to come and present their programme as to what is going to happen next,” Motubatse said, “We believe if we don’t monitor this process, we will end up having these former employees not being employed.”
