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Former employees of the closed Lily and Barbrook mines in Mpumalanga have claimed that the business rescue practitioner has neglected the mines’ assets which they fear are now being stripped after trucks were seen loading equipment.
The mines’ ownership is the subject of a judicial process but Vantage Goldfields Limited (VGO) has announced that Real Win Investments (RWI) (Pty) Ltd has bought 100% of its shares. Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (SSC) subsidiary, Flaming Silver 373 (Pty) Ltd, is in the meantime challenging VGO’s decision to cancel its sale agreement signed on November 1 last year.
The mines, situated in Louisville near Barberton, were closed in 2016 and put under business rescue after an entrance to Lily Mine collapsed and buried three workers who were in a container office.
Harry Mazibuko, one of the employees who have spent 130 days camping at Lily Mine to put pressure on the owners to resolve the issue, said that trucks had been loading and driving away with machines.
“These trucks have been coming to strip the plant, particularly at Barbrook. We have phoned the business rescue practitioner [Rob Devereux] about this but he said he would investigate,” Mazibuko said.
“We’re worried about this. We’re waiting for the reopening of the mines and to get paid our monies that VGO owes us, but they [the mines] are now being stripped. At the same time, Real Win Investments has not spoken to us and the community since VGO announced them as the new owners.”
Devereaux did not respond to written questions.
Mazibuko said that the workers favoured Flaming Silver taking over the mines because they had committed to retrieving the container office and re-employing the1 000 former employees.
He said that they did not have any written plan from RWI.
“During a creditors’ meeting last week, they made a handwritten presentation that did not specify how much they would spend to reopen the mines.
“We’re not satisfied with the business rescue plan and we must be given a right to vote and choose a company that we want,” Mazibuko said.
RWI CEO Zandile Mdanda did not return City Press’ calls.
Real Win Investments cannot take over ownership of the mines as yet after Flaming Silver’s application to the Supreme Court of Appeal to overturn a Mbombela High Court ruling that the sale agreement was null and void. The court ruled that this was because the board meeting that took the decision about a fourth addendum to the sale agreement was not properly constituted.
Flaming Silver’s former director, Ferdi Dippenaar, brought the application alerting the court to this when the company had applied to force VGO to hand over share documents in line with last year’s sale agreement.
SSC CONSIDERS LEGAL ACTION
SSC Flaming Silver CEO Fred Arendse has accused Vantage Goldfields SA (VGSA) of using an offshore company, VGO from Australia, to circumvent their section 11 approval with the department of mineral resources which effectively gave the transaction between SSC and VGSA the go-ahead.
“Accordingly, Flaming Silver is considering instituting legal action against, inter alia, the aforementioned entities and responsible persons,” Arendse said.
“We are of the opinion that any transaction to sell the shares by VGSA or VGO are likely to be a long, drawn-out matter as a result of the ongoing litigation involving Flaming Silver and VGSA,” he added.
“Furthermore, Flaming Silver has obtained section 11 ministerial approval, hence RWI cannot claim ownership of these mining assets.”
VGSA CEO Mike McChesney said SSC kept blaming everybody else while they have not performed.
“We haven’t circumvented anything, because section 11 consent is not a legal document in terms of any commercial agreement,” McChesney said.
“We’re free to deal with our assets as we see fit, and we have brought a new investor who has the money to open the mines and pay all the creditors.”
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