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An aerial view of the illegal mine in Benoni

JOHANNESBURG. – Over 200 workers were feared trapped yesterday inside an illegal gold mine in South Africa, emergency rescuers said.“We have got communication with about 30 trapped miners. They have told us that underneath them there’s 200 others,” Werner Vermaak spokesman of private emergency operators ER24 told AFP.

But he said he could not independently confirm the figure of 200 while local municipality officials could only confirm 30 trapped.
The workers went down on Saturday into the mine, which has been dug illegally behind a cricket stadium in the Benoni district east of Johannesburg.

They failed to come out after a boulder fell and blocked their way, municipal rescuers said.
“We are currently in the process of attempting to rescue them,” Roggers Mamaila of the Ekurhuleni municipality emergency services told AFP.

Heavy-duty excavation equipment has been brought in to help in the rescue operation. But Vermaak said it was “very difficult to access them at this moment”.

Police on patrol had discovered the men when a passer-by said he had heard voices of people screaming from underground.
Accidents are commonplace in South Africa’s mines, which are the deepest in the world.

At least eight miners were killed nearly two weeks ago after an earth tremor sparked an underground blaze at a Harmony Gold mine west of Johannesburg.

In another development, South African mining giant Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) on Saturday said it was suing a trade union for damages and losses suffered over the past three-week work stoppage.

“The company is suffering damages arising from the failure by AMCU (union) to maintain control of the strike,” Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole told AFP.

The world’s top platinum miner is seeking a payment of US$$54 million for property damaged by striking members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union who it says have failed to adhere to picketing rules.

The sum will also compensate for increased costs to pay security staff overtime and for losses due to “the loss of production that would have been possible if non-striking workers were not prevented from working”.

The provisional damages claim comes to “about 591 million rand, although as AMCU’s wrongful conduct is continuing, the damages will continue to accrue,” she said.

The case was filed with the High Court in Pretoria on Friday. AMCU secretary-general Jeff Mpahlele said he was unaware of any litigation against the union.

Tens of thousands of platinum mining workers have downed tools since January 23 at Amplats, Impala Platinum (Implats) and Lonmin – the world’s top three producers of the mineral.

The workers, who are demanding the doubling of their monthly wages to US$1 125, have so far rejected an initial offer of least seven percent each of the next three years.

The strike is costing Amplats about 100 million rand daily or 4 000 ounces a day of the metal that is used in products from catalytic converters to computer hard disks and dental fillings.

The on-and-off government-mediated negotiations to end the pay dispute resume today when the state arbitration body will meet separately with the union. — AFP.