By Celani Sikhakhane
- The uMkhonto weSizwe Party says the ANC ignored workers until now and is only chasing votes.
- Assmang Manganese job cuts could leave 600 people unemployed in the KwaXimba community.
ANC and uMkhonto weSizwe Party leaders in eThekwini are at war over the coming closure of Assmang Manganese, a company linked to billionaire Patrice Motsepe.
At the heart of the fight is a planned ANC protest outside the company’s gates on 28 March.
The protest aims to show support for 600 workers facing job losses — but MK Party ward leader Musa Mkhize says it’s nothing more than “political showboating”.
In a statement to Scrolla.Africa, Mkhize said: “We are very angry about this political grandstanding because workers have been suffering from stress since October last year when they were told about the looming closure. And today, the ANC and its union are starting to make a political statement for their own benefit.”
He accused the ANC of staying silent while workers suffered, claiming they were “benefitting through African Rainbow of Patrice Motsepe for party funding”.
Mkhize said most workers at Assmang come from KwaXimba and the MK Party had supported them from the beginning.
“Now the ANC realises they have a lot to lose, so they are starting a mass protest to use poor workers,” he said.
Posters announcing the ANC protest have been put up across the community.
Assmang Manganese has struggled for years. The company faced a major setback when the department of environmental affairs and tourism blocked its plan to build two new furnaces that would have cost over R1 billion and created new jobs.
The plan was stopped after a deadly 2008 explosion at the Cato Ridge plant killed six people.
After that, the department of labour shut down all furnaces, and the company said it expected to lose at least R100 million.
Assmang Manganese did not respond to requests for comment. The ANC in eThekwini also could not be reached as spokesperson Mlondolozi Mkhize and secretary Musa Nciki’s phones went straight to voicemail.
Pictured above: UMkhonto weSizwe Party’s Musa Mkhize slams ANC protest over Assmang Manganese job losses.
Image source: MKP
