Underground strike ends at Sibanye’s Kroondal operation

The underground worker strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s (JSE: SSW, NYSE: SBSW) Kroondal operation has come to an end with all employees exiting the mine safely and returning to the surface by mid-afternoon, the company announced Wednesday.

The protest kicked off on Monday when more than 200 employees and contractors from the morning shift at the Kwezi shaft (Kroondal West) staged an illegal sit-in underground.

According to Sibanye, the workers were aggrieved to not have received the annual payments made last week to Rustenburg and Marikana employees under the group’s employee share option schemes.

However, it was noted by the company that the Kroondal employees were not eligible for such benefits until at least later this year.

Now that the sit-in has been resolved, the South African miner said it will engage with employees and the representative unions in accordance with existing, standard processes, adding that it “will not condone Illegal actions by any stakeholders that may compromise the safety and wellbeing of employees or the sustainability of operations.”