Kumba Iron Ore has ramped up its readiness to respond to the expected increase in Covid-19 cases among its employees and host communities.
This is in a bid to support government’s call to contain the pandemic, especially in the Northern Cape, which hosts its mining operations.
The mine’s initiatives are focused primarily on prevention, screening, testing and providing quarantine and isolation facilities.
Kumba has also established diagnostic laboratories with polymerase chain reaction testing machines at both the Kolomela and Sishen mines, as well as in Saldanha where every laboratory can test up to 500 people a day, and release results relatively quickly.
The Sishen mine’s laboratory is at the UGM Clinic and open to the public for community members’ use.
George Benjamin, public affairs manager at Kolomela mine, says the provision of these PCR machines is proof that the mine is living up to its promise of caring for and supporting employees and host communities.
“We recognise that we are in this together, with the mines and communities functioning as an ecosystem.”
Additionally in the Postmasburg area, the company has secured more than 130 beds for quarantine and 100 beds for isolation.
In Kathu, the Mapoteng quarantine site is equipped with 200 beds, and the Sivos isolation site can accommodate up to 150 people.
Kumba is distributing bulk sanitisers to clinics and hospitals in the area.
It will also distribute 42 000 hygiene packs within the John Taolo Gaetsewe and ZF Mngcawu districts, in collaboration with the local municipalities, and in the Tsantsabane area, in collaboration with the Tsantsabane Cares nutritional support (Covid-19) programme.
Further, the company is working closely with various stakeholders to assess and respond to the needs of the communities during this period.
