{"id":23019,"date":"2026-01-28T15:51:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-general-industrial-workers-union-urges-government-to-rehabilitate-hundreds-of-abandoned-gold-platinum-mines\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:33:54","slug":"sa-general-industrial-workers-union-urges-government-to-rehabilitate-hundreds-of-abandoned-gold-platinum-mines","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-general-industrial-workers-union-urges-government-to-rehabilitate-hundreds-of-abandoned-gold-platinum-mines\/","title":{"rendered":"SA General Industrial Workers Union urges government to rehabilitate hundreds of abandoned gold, platinum mines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giwusa warned that soaring gold prices and deepening unemployment have created fertile ground for criminal syndicates and <\/span>dangerous,<\/span> unregulated mining.<\/span><\/p>\n

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With gold prices now exceeding $5 000 an ounce, GIWUSA President Mametlwe Sebei said the surge underscored the need for government intervention to prevent mines from lying idle and to consider expropriation where necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Speaking to Channel Africa on Wednesday, Sebei said SA\u2019s mining towns were facing a dual crisis: catastrophic unemployment and escalating violence linked to illegal mining syndicates.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sebei noted that the gold mining sector had shed an estimated <\/span>600 000<\/span> jobs since its peak in 1979, when nearly <\/span>700 000<\/span> workers were employed, compared to fewer than <\/span>100 000<\/span> today.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe levels of unemployment are catastrophic,\u201d he said, adding that although platinum mining has grown, it has not been enough to offset the economic collapse in former gold\u2011mining towns.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In this vacuum, he said, organised criminal syndicates had entrenched themselves by exploiting desperate former mineworkers and communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThere has been an explosive, exponential and unregulated growth of artisanal mining,\u201d Sebei said. \u201cIn the absence of state regulation, syndicates have stepped in, imposing horrendous terror on miners and communities, rapes, murders, and violence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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He pointed to the recent violence in Borong, where residents reportedly fled their homes to seek shelter in a school, as a vivid example of the scale of the crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sebei said the record\u2011high gold price has intensified the risks, driving artisanal miners deep underground, sometimes 2 to 3 kilometres, into abandoned shafts such as those at Stilfontein.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat used to be scavenging for surface residues has now become deep\u2011level operations,\u201d he said. \u201cThe price is such that it neutralises the high cost of extraction that previously made these mines unprofitable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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He noted that around 700 gold shafts have been abandoned since 1979, many of which still contain viable reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sebei criticised <\/span>government<\/span> for relying on foreign investors, saying mining companies in London, Canada and the US were not returning to reopen shafts that they had long deemed unprofitable.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe need government to expropriate,\u201d he said. \u201cAbandoned mines already fall to the state by law. Those under prolonged care and maintenance must also be taken over.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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He outlined a two\u2011tier proposal:<\/span><\/p>\n

Industrial\u2011scale mines with substantial reserves<\/strong><\/p>\n