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11 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 31/1998
Namibia should nationalise mines belonging to the Tsumeb corporation (TCL), the country's miners demanded today. Their call follows moves by holding company Gold Fields Namibia to put TCL into liquidation.
The jobs of some 2,000 workers at TCL are now under threat - about a quarter of the workforce in Namibia's important mining industry. The company has been mining copper, lead, zinc, sulphur and other minerals in Namibia for the past 55 years.
In a curt note to workers on Friday, manager J. B. Ayres announced that "all assets, monies and liabilities of the company are frozen with immediate effect by the courts. The action affects all employees including management." A liquidator would now be "responsible for the realisation of the company assets and the distribution of these funds. These actions are now out of the control of the management of this company." Ayres did, however, add that the workers' provident fund is "intact". Workers' hostel services would continue "until further notice".
If TCL really is bankrupt, this is "mainly due to mismanagement," commented Peter Naholo. He is General Secretary of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN). "Since its inception," Naholo said, TCL has been "run by apartheid managers" who have been "generally incompetent and corrupt." Condemning the company's failure to give advance warning to its workers and other stakeholders, Naholo called Ayres' note "materially flawed, in that no court has as yet 'frozen' any assets." And the country's Minister of Mines and Energy, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, said the lack of advance notice put TCL in breach of Namibia's Minerals Act.
The MUN has repeatedly warned the Namibian government that TCL/Gold Fields is not a reliable investor. The union has faced a whole series of conflicts with the company, notably a strike over pay in 1996. "Today the Government is expressing their shock," Naholo said. "We must point out that the MUN is not shocked. We know what TCL is."
The company is blaming the closure on the fall in world copper prices - and on the 1996 strike, a claim echoed in the mine and energy minister's statement. "The strike resulted in a premature closure of the De Wet shaft at Tsumeb mine," the minister said, "although mining from this shaft was scheduled to come to an end in 1997."
This is a "flagrant lie," Naholo retorts. "De Wet shaft was closed in June 1996, two months prior to the strike. This is all the more reason to believe that TCL/Gold Fields has since 1996 had a perfectly planned hidden agenda for the abandonment of the mines in question."
The MUN is determined to oppose the liquidation, and is demanding a commission of enquiry into TCL/Gold Fields' affairs. Naholo called on all other TCL/Gold Fields creditors to join the union's campaign. The Goldfields board of directors should be "investigated in terms of the Companies Act for recklessly dealing with the company's affairs," he insisted. "If found liable, they should be apprehended and locked up for sabotage of the Namibian economy." The company must not be allowed to "abandon Namibia under the smokescreen of liquidation, thus leaving the people they have exploited to clean up the mess for them."
Meanwhile, Naholo pointed out, TCL's abandonment of its three mines has provided a "golden opportunity for the Government to nationalise and establish a sound and economically viable mining operation at the three 'people's mines'."
TCL/Gold Fields' behaviour has also been condemned by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which the MUN is affiliated.
"This is hit-and-run capitalism at its very worst," commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. "Through the ICEM, mining and allied workers worldwide will give every possible support to our Namibian colleagues in their just struggle."
The jobs of some 2,000 workers at TCL are now under threat - about a quarter of the workforce in Namibia's important mining industry. The company has been mining copper, lead, zinc, sulphur and other minerals in Namibia for the past 55 years.
In a curt note to workers on Friday, manager J. B. Ayres announced that "all assets, monies and liabilities of the company are frozen with immediate effect by the courts. The action affects all employees including management." A liquidator would now be "responsible for the realisation of the company assets and the distribution of these funds. These actions are now out of the control of the management of this company." Ayres did, however, add that the workers' provident fund is "intact". Workers' hostel services would continue "until further notice".
If TCL really is bankrupt, this is "mainly due to mismanagement," commented Peter Naholo. He is General Secretary of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN). "Since its inception," Naholo said, TCL has been "run by apartheid managers" who have been "generally incompetent and corrupt." Condemning the company's failure to give advance warning to its workers and other stakeholders, Naholo called Ayres' note "materially flawed, in that no court has as yet 'frozen' any assets." And the country's Minister of Mines and Energy, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, said the lack of advance notice put TCL in breach of Namibia's Minerals Act.
The MUN has repeatedly warned the Namibian government that TCL/Gold Fields is not a reliable investor. The union has faced a whole series of conflicts with the company, notably a strike over pay in 1996. "Today the Government is expressing their shock," Naholo said. "We must point out that the MUN is not shocked. We know what TCL is."
The company is blaming the closure on the fall in world copper prices - and on the 1996 strike, a claim echoed in the mine and energy minister's statement. "The strike resulted in a premature closure of the De Wet shaft at Tsumeb mine," the minister said, "although mining from this shaft was scheduled to come to an end in 1997."
This is a "flagrant lie," Naholo retorts. "De Wet shaft was closed in June 1996, two months prior to the strike. This is all the more reason to believe that TCL/Gold Fields has since 1996 had a perfectly planned hidden agenda for the abandonment of the mines in question."
The MUN is determined to oppose the liquidation, and is demanding a commission of enquiry into TCL/Gold Fields' affairs. Naholo called on all other TCL/Gold Fields creditors to join the union's campaign. The Goldfields board of directors should be "investigated in terms of the Companies Act for recklessly dealing with the company's affairs," he insisted. "If found liable, they should be apprehended and locked up for sabotage of the Namibian economy." The company must not be allowed to "abandon Namibia under the smokescreen of liquidation, thus leaving the people they have exploited to clean up the mess for them."
Meanwhile, Naholo pointed out, TCL's abandonment of its three mines has provided a "golden opportunity for the Government to nationalise and establish a sound and economically viable mining operation at the three 'people's mines'."
TCL/Gold Fields' behaviour has also been condemned by the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), to which the MUN is affiliated.
"This is hit-and-run capitalism at its very worst," commented ICEM General Secretary Vic Thorpe. "Through the ICEM, mining and allied workers worldwide will give every possible support to our Namibian colleagues in their just struggle."