AMCU urges govt to make universal testing for mineworkers mandatory
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has reiterated its call for universal testing of all mineworkers.
This follows after 19 new Covid-19 infections were diagnosed at Impala Platinum’s Marula mine, in Limpopo, over the weekend.
This brought the total number of infections in the mining sector to 32, with one employee having died from the virus.
AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa says screening employees before work is not sufficient as it fails to detect those workers who do not display the known symptoms such as a fever.
Earlier in May, the union reported that it had won a case in the Labour Court against the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), forcing the department to compile national minimum standards for managing the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of Section 9 of the Mine Health and Safety Act.
The DMRE on May 11 published a guideline for public comment, which involves the compilation of a mandatory code of practice for the mitigation and management of Covid-19 in the mining sector. The closing date for public comment was May 14.
The guideline had not specified that all mineworkers be tested for Covid-19 before resuming work.
Mathunjwa questions whether it is rational to open mines only to be forced to close it down when there is an explosion of infections.
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