Union leader dies at Uis tin mine

Filemon Mwashindange, chairperson of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) branch at Andrada’s Uis tin mine, collapsed and died while at work on Monday.

The Namibian police confirmed the incident and said a postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

The union has expressed concern that normal work activities resumed at the mine immediately following the death and asked that work in the area where Mwashindange collapsed be suspended until it is secured and assessed.

Niklaas Afrikaner, chairman of the western region for MUN, said that the mine should not simply continue with "business as usual".

The union has also called for counselling for those who witnessed the incident.

Uis Tin Mining general manager Dana Hattingh sent out a message of condolences, asking employees directly affected to contact human resources, safety officers or employee wellness for assistance, and urging everyone to "refrain from sharing or speculating about the circumstances or cause of death."

In a statement, MUN said the union does not wish to speculate on the cause or circumstances of the fatality but added that "the fact that a worker collapsed and subsequently died while on duty is in itself a matter of grave concern to the union and requires the highest level of attention".

MUN called for an in-depth investigation to establish all circumstances surrounding the incident, including whether any workplace, operational or other factors may have contributed to the fatality.

"One death at work is one death too many,” the union stressed.