Sibanye-Stillwater is to take disciplinary action against employees who staged an underground sit-in at its Kwezi Shaft in Kroondal, Rustenburg, this week.
More than 200 employees refused to come to the surface after the end of their shift earlier this month, while another shift was disturbed as more workers gathered in an open space on the surface.
The workers were demanding benefits from an employee share ownership programme (Esop).
Sibanye-Stillwater argued that the Esop for the workers at the operation had not yet been operationalised.
The workers who remained underground later surfaced on Wednesday.
Now, Sibanye-Stillwater says it will discipline employees who engaged in the protest action.
“Now that the illegal sit-in has been resolved, the company will engage with employees and the representative unions in accordance with existing, standard processes and mechanisms,” Sibanye-Stillwater said in a statement.
Despite surfacing and ending their protest, employees at Sibanye-Stillwater’s Kroondal operation said they were still pursuing benefits from the Esop.
Sibanye-Stillwater insisted that it “will not condone illegal actions by any stakeholders which may compromise the safety and well-being of employees or the sustainability” of its operations.
“We appeal to employees to use the established grievance mechanisms or their union representatives to address any issues or concerns,” it said.
In an earlier statement, Sibanye-Stillwater said the sit-in protest underground had been sparked after “annual payments made to beneficiaries of the Rustenburg and Marikana employee share option schemes” on Friday, June 1.
The company and workers’ unions had agreed to a provision under the 2023 Kroondal wage agreement for management and unions to explore the feasibility of introducing the Rustenburg Esop for Kroondal employees once the acquisition of the Kroondal Pool and Share Agreement (PSA) by Sibanye Rustenburg Platinum Mines (SRPM) had been finalised.
Several engagements between the company, organised labour, and employees regarding the proposed Esop, as per the provision, had taken place, with the parties agreeing that Kroondal employees would be included as beneficiaries of the Rustenburg Esop.
BUSINESS REPORT