After yearlong negotiations with steelmaker Evraz Highveld for the company to clean up and close a waste disposal site where over the years it has dumped 17-million tonnes of calcine, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and various community organisations have decided to take to the streets.
The campaign kicks off with a march that will be led by the union’s second Deputy-President Basil Cele on Thursday 20 November 2014 in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga.
After an April 2008 Department of Environmental Affairs’ (DEA) directive to close and rehabilitate the waste disposal facility, Evraz Highveld has done nothing. Although in November 2013 the company committed itself in negotiations with the union and community organisations to close the 35-hectare site, management has now reneged and the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) says he knows nothing about the agreement.
While the company continues to pass the buck, soluble vanadium continues to leach into the environment and the dust from the dump leads to skin irritations, eye irritation and respiratory problems in surrounding communities.
Details of the march are as follows:
Date: Thursday 20 November 2014
Starting time: 10h00
Starting point: Numsa Regional Office
BF Boshielo House
10 Hofmeyr Street
EMALAHLENI
For further information on the march contact:
Simon Khanyile – 073 644 5143 or
Puleng  Minnele – 082 682  2128 or
Sam Likhuleni – 072 762 2466