Two South African miners accused of intimidating their African colleagues, mostly Mozambicans at the East Rand Proprietary Mines (EPRM) at Boksburg, near Johannesburg, have been arrested.
They were identified through press photographs which showed them instigating violence, according to a press release from the Mozambican Labour Ministry on Wednesday.
It said another two South Africans at the same mine are facing an internal investigation by the company for their possible role in threats to African miners.
EPRM is one of two mines affected by the violence and on Tuesday representatives of the Labour Ministry delegation in South Africa and of the Mozambican consulate in Johannesburg held talks with the EPRM management on the possibility of repatriating those Mozambicans who wish to leave.
The company, however, insisted that it would not shut the mine, and would not se nd its non-South African workers home. The management guaranteed that the mine c o mpounds were now safe, and argued that security conditions in general were impro v ing.
EPRM director Barry de Bloch said the communications and security conditions had been tightened, and that the company was working with the mineworkers’ union and with the police to detect all those involved in encouraging the violence. Panapress .
