As Business Maverick reported on Saturday morning, Implats temporarily closed its Marula operation after it detected 19 Covid-19 cases. This is the first South African mine to halt work in response to employees testing positive.

“Implats has identified 19 positive cases during the week, all of them asymptomatic — meaning the individuals tested exhibited no apparent coronavirus symptoms. Of these cases, 14 were identified as the result of proactive testing of employees returning to work,” the platinum producer said in a statement.

“As such, the rigorous screening and testing protocols at Marula have proved effective in quickly identifying cases, enabling the Group to rapidly isolate affected employees to prevent wider infection on the mine. It was also confirmed that these cases included a local health provider and four mine- employed health providers working at the mine clinic. This facility was immediately closed for sterilisation and testing of medical staff and all primary contacts.”

Mantashe, addressing the media in Limpopo on Sunday afternoon, concurred that screening at least was proving to be effective. 

“We have visited a number of areas where we discovered that the industry was very efficient up to screening, but testing was not visible. We had to engage the industry that we must test because the biggest threat would be to have one worker go underground and be found positive. What we’ve agreed now is let’s intensify testing. And what is nice about this case study of these workers at Marula is that (they) had not gone underground yet. They were screened and tested and discovered. They’re now quarantined.” 

He said that workers who came back to the mines from outside the province would have to be quarantined. The department also “published a guideline for the compilation of a mandatory code of practice for the mitigation & management of #Covid19 in the mining sector,” following a court order on 1 May in response to legal action initiated by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). 

The industry, as Business Maverick has reported before, is relatively well-placed to conduct stringent screening and testing measures because social control is hard-wired into its DNA. It is not easy to gain access to a mine without permission. (Mind you, some Zama-Zamas do, but that is another story). The focus, of course, is to ensure that infected miners do not go underground, where the coronavirus could potentially spread rapidly.

The real challenge may lie in the often overcrowded and impoverished communities — one of the industry’s many “legacy issues” — that surround the mines.

“Significantly, 17 of the 19 confirmed cases reside locally, suggesting the prevalence of Covid-19 among local communities is far higher than the company’s initial estimates had indicated,” Implats said.

This situation will need to be handled with care. Marula is located on the platinum belt’s eastern limb and the region for years has been a flashpoint of social and labour unrest. Implats had at one point considered mothballing Marula because of operational disruptions linked to community concerns regarding a chrome deal with local traditional leaders. Meanwhile, the industry is still undergoing a gradual reboot as the overall economy melts down. BM