Presently, the mining company which has operations in the Free State, North West, and South Gauteng has 122 active Covid-19 cases as of 28 August 2021. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) recently revealed that in the last two months up to 36 476 employees in the mining sector tested positive for Covid-19 while 422 employees have succumbed to Covid-19-related illnesses since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country. Unions like NUM are calling on mining companies to intensify Covid-19 related protocols, to safeguard the lives of employees in the workplace.

Harmony, which released its financial results on 31 August for the financial period ending June 2021, says the number of infections experienced currently at their operations have been lower than during the second wave. The mine vows that it has begun its vaccine roll-out at four regional vaccination sites since June and continue to encourage their mineworkers to get vaccinated. Of the more than 12,5 million people that have been vaccinated thus far in the country, over 1,5 million are in North West, Free State, and the Northern Cape.

Harmony saw a net profit of R5,6 billion during the pandemic year on the back of a 26% increase in gold production and favourable commodity prices. The mining giant saw 11 mining-related fatalities over the course of the aforementioned financial year.

OFM News