The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) is pressing Impala Rustenburg for answers after a 45-year-old plant cleaner died after being exposed to sulphur dioxide at their plant in the North West on 5 August 2026.
According to Joseph Mathunjwa, AMCU president, the man died shortly after being exposed to sulphur dioxide due ato valve failure that caused an uncontrollable gas leak that also led to the hospitalisation of seven other employees.
“The deceased reportedly experienced distress near the entrance clock gates while making his way towards the change house. He later collapsed near the on-site clinic, where emergency medical personnel immediately began life-saving treatment,” Mathunjwa stated.
This incident comes about a week after AMCU called for a safety shutdown of all Impala operations, which included handing a memorandum of demands to the mine’s management.
Mathunjwa described it as another workplace disaster that could have been prevented, while raising capacity concerns regarding risk management, maintenance practices and emergency preparedness at the plant.
“We are heartbroken, devastated and frankly speechless. Our members are going to work expecting to return home safely to their families, yet we continue to witness preventable incidents that claim lives,” Mathunjwa said.
While demanding Impala to establish whether critical safety controls were in place at the time of the incident, the union has further called for a full review of the plant’s process safety management systems. This while also urging the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate to conduct a thorough investigation and subsequently hold responsible parties, if any, accountable for negligence or failures to comply with mine safety laws.
AMCU has also renewed its call for amendments to the Mine Health and Safety Act to strengthen personal accountability for those responsible for mine safety.
“Until the people who make these decisions are held personally and criminally accountable, preventable workplace disasters will continue and mineworkers will continue to pay with their lives,” Mathunjwa said.
