Die vloek van rykdom

Vanoggend se berig in die koerant dat kommissie-lede R51 000 per dag gaan verdien, het my laat terugdink oor die berigte in die media nadat die Marikana staking tot verskriklike verlies van mense-lewens gelei het.

Van die media-berigte lui dat drie van die hoogsbetaalde persone by die myn-maatskappy tussen R26 en R29 miljoen per jaar verdien. 

Die werkers wil R12 500 verdien. Hulle sal daarmee tevrede wees.

By die berigte was foto's van die verstikkende armoede en onmenslike omstandighede waarin die myners woon en werk. 

Dit is skrikwekkende, vulgêre gegewens. Woorde ontbreek 'n mens byna.

Daar is iets verskrikliks verkeerd met ons samelewings.   

Hier is twee berigte:

Berig uit Die Sowetan:

About 15,000 mineworkers have been on strike over wages since early September, demanding an increase to R12,500.

On the other hand, the mine's CEO Nick Holland earns R36.6-million a year, including a performance based bonus, according to media reports.

"If management doesn't fix the situation and listen to the workers, we might end up with another Marikana situation on our hands," said miner Mkhululi Mngwangwa, who was washing laundry in a filthy communal bathroom during Sowetan's visit to the workers' hostel recently.

At Lonmin in Marikana, North West, 44 people including two policemen, two guards and mineworkers died in the violence that erupted after the workers had gone on strike, also demanding a pay hike to R12,500.

Mngwangwa said their strike was different to Marikana when it started. "The main issue was that the salary scale was not the same," he said. "Each shaft was using its own scale, which was unfair."

He stays with a friend in a bathroom-sized room in Ekuthuleni Hostel. They sleep in double bunk and have little space to store their belongings. Three other miners live in the adjacent two rooms; and they all share the bathroom and lounge. The three communal showers don't have doors and the toilets are broken. Ekuthuleni is a hostel for single men with a small marketplace at the entrance with stalls for loose cigarettes, fruits and chips.

The prices at the main supermarket where miners buy most of their groceries are inflated. A 10kg bag of maize meal and flour is sold for R60, R10 more than its normal price, while a 2-litre bottle of Coca-Cola, which normally costs R13, is R19 at the supermarket.

Besides the prices, other facilities like banks and, in some instances, clinics are only available 10km away in Carletonville.

Mngwangwa's R8,000 take-home salary is not enough to cater for his expenses as he has to send money home to Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape. His monthly expenses include R3,000 for his two children at the University of KwaZulu- Natal, R2,500 for his wife and another R600 for school transport for his other two children.

He spends R1,000 on groceries, leaving him with less than R1,000 to spend on his other needs.

Elias Nkuna, 51, of Letsatsing village, has been working at Gold Fields as a plumber since 1985. He earns R4,000. He has four children and his wife is unemployed. "I have to pay R20 for a taxi to drive me to town if I need a clinic, bank or post office. "We are not getting proper services here and people seem to think we are exaggerating when we demand R12,000," Nkuna said.

Berig uit Die Burger.

Lede van kommissie gaan R51000 per dag verdien

2012-10-04 06:00

KAAPSTAD. – Presies R51000 vir ’n volle dag se werk.

Dít is die vergoeding van elkeen van die twee kommissarisse en twee advokate van die kommissie van ondersoek na polisiëring in Khayelitsha wat deur Helen Zille, Wes-Kaapse premier, aangestel is.

Alan Winde, Wes-Kaapse minister van finansies, ekonomiese ontwikkeling en toerisme, het dit bekend gemaak in ’n skriftelike antwoord op ’n parlementêre vraag van Pierre Uys, ANC-LPP.

Winde het dit duidelik gestel dat die kommissarisse en twee advokate elkeen R51000 kry vir elke volle dag wat hulle werk.