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Johannesburg – Forty-one family members of some of the miners killed during a wildcat strike at a Lonmin mine in August 2012, have now been employed by the company, the City Press newspaper reported on Sunday.
"The employment is welcome, but it will always be difficult to work for the same company my brother died trying to get a living wage from," said Banele Jijase, aged 25. His brother, Akhona, had worked as a rock driller for a month before he was killed.
Widows, brothers and cousins have undergone two weeks of training, induction and fitness tests and are due to start work on Monday.
Ten have been found fit to work underground and not all will be placed at the company's Wonderkop or Marikana mines.
Preparations for housing
Lonmin spokesperson Happy Nkhona said that while various preparations for housing, including discussions with majority union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, were still underway: "we'll make a plan because letting them fend for themselves is not an option yet".
Thirty-four people, mostly striking mineworkers, were shot dead in a clash with police, more than 70 were wounded, and 250 were arrested near Lonmin's platinum mining operations at Marikana, North West, on 16 August 2012.
The police were apparently trying to disarm and disperse them.
In the preceding week, 10 people, including the two policemen and two Lonmin security guards, were killed in strike-related violence in the area.
On 14 November, the public hearings of the commission of inquiry into the events at Marikana closed after a sitting lasting 300 days.
A final report will be submitted to President Jacob Zuma next year.
