The Minerals Council of South Africa has called on the government to urgently intervene and ensure security in the mining industry.
This follows the killing of a security guard during an armed robbery at a Harmony Gold plant, west of Johannesburg, last Friday.
There have been nine attacks on the gold industry in the past year, in which employees and security personnel have been held hostage, assaulted and in two cases killed.
The Council says the attacks threaten the country’s investment and economic prospects.
“So what the Mineral Council is asking of government is to set up systems that can address this, which is turning into a very serious and ongoing crisis. It would seem that its incidents of organized crime taking place. There was once at one stage such a unit that was reasonably effective at the time and this is one of the steps that we believe the SAPS should be considering. This is becoming extremely urgent and we’re asking for the matter to be treated with great urgency,” says Spokesperson for the Council, Alan Fine.
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