Pretoria - Some of the hundreds of workers at Aurora's Grootvlei mine have started receiving their salaries after nine months of no pay, the Gauteng Department of Labour said on Wednesday.
"[This] follows after the department got an undertaking from the employer (Aurora Mines) to pay workers after failing to reimburse them for a year," departmental spokesperson, Mishack Magakwe, said.
The department began paying the workers after the company transferred just over R2 million into its account last week. So far, a total of R800 000 has been paid out.
Magakwe said problems arose while paying workers, because many arrived to claim payment but they had not lodged formal complaints and their information could not be verified. They were therefore not paid out.
"About 300 workers did not arrive to collect their payment," added Magakwe.
These workers, he said, should visit the Springs Labour Centre with verifiable bank details so that a bank transfer could be facilitated.
Workers owed money should also visit the centre to lodge a formal complaint and bring along information to support their claim.
Offices are open from 7.30am to 4pm Monday to Friday, except on 24 and 31 December 2010, when the offices will be closed at 10am.
Reports indicate that the mine owes about 5 500 workers an estimated R15 million in salaries.
Earlier this year, Aurora announced it had secured enough funding to buy Pamodzi's Grootvlei and Orkney mines from its liquidators, after the owner went bankrupt. But red tape and empty promises had left the miners unpaid.
According to a recent Labour Court ruling, Aurora agreed to pay the workers by November 30.
