Nine-year-old Jonathan and his brother Matty eat lolipops as their mother folds clothes on their bed inside their bedroom in a makeshift shelter in Orkney, North-West. Tha family of five, who once owned a house and car and now all live in the same room, were forced to sell everything when the father was laid off from the Pamodzi mine in 2009. Mar 2012
Images of new cars and photographs of former South African president Nelson Mandela are posted on the wall of Ernest Chivmbo’s room, from Mocambique, in the Grootvlei Four Shaft hostel on the Aurora East Rand gold mine in Springs, East of Johannesburg. May 2010
Khulubuse Zuma, chairman of Aurora Empowerment Systems, has been accused of selling the infrastructure of Grootvlei and Orkney mines, causing the loss of thousands of jobs while it was still under his management. Jun 2010
18-year-old Zander wakes up in his caravan inside a makeshift shelter in Orkney, North-West, as other families sharing the same shelter stand in the livingroom. Zander’s father was laid off in 2009 when Aurora’s Pamodzi mine was liquidated. Mar 2012
Four-year-old Matty lies in a bed with dogs and cats inside a makeshift shelter in Orkney. His family and many others are occupying the land illegally and the landlord is trying to get them evicted from the property. Mar 2012
58-year-old Kgotso Phalatsane who worked at shaft 4 in Pamodzi mine says that since 2009 when he was laid off he has not been able to feed his children and they have been forced to drop out of school. Mar 2012
A miner pleads on a placard during a protest to the Union Buildings to highlight the plight of the Aurora miners. Feb 2011
18-year-old Zander leaves his caravan inside a makeshift shelter in Orkney, North-West. Mar 2012
Former Aurora miner, Michael Moroke, walks past Pamodzi Gold’s Shaft 5 where he used to work as an engineer before being laid off in 2009. Mar 2012
Four-year-old Matty Smith watches water drip from the roof into a glass on the floor during a storm as his mother, Colette washes clothes in the living room of their makeshift home in Orkney. Mar 2012
Awareness should be shared. When photographers such as yourself share these moving stories, it offers the viewer the opportunity to open their eyes just a bit more. Thank you for publishing this post.
Thank you, I hope that the story can bring attention to what is happening to the miners.
I do as well!