"This is theft," said Gideon du Plessis, deputy secretary general of labour union Solidarity.
Aurora also failed to pay over unemployment insurance fund and pay-as-you-earn deductions to the relevant authorities, in blatant breach of the law.
Aurora, run by Khulubuse Zuma, nephew of Jacob Zuma, and Nelson Mandela's grandson Zondwa Mandela, has failed to pay workers at the Orkney and East Rand mines regularly since February.
Solidarity and the National Union of Mineworkers were finalising court papers to claim outstanding pay and retirement fund deductions, said Du Plessis.
It was not clear what had happened to money deducted from workers' pay, and the unions were trying to determine the full extent of outstanding pay, he said. The unions would meet individual workers this week to finalise the paperwork.
Life insurance policies for workers were also cancelled by the insurer due to non-payment by Aurora - another breach of the law by the company.
It was illegal for mining companies not to pay or insure workers, said Frans Baleni, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
"The only thing that can be done is for the liquidators to say that Aurora has failed to meet its commitments, and get another buyer or liquidate the mines," said Baleni. "The problem is that the liquidators are deeply in love with Aurora."
The Department of Labour and the Department of Mineral Resources took no action against Aurora. "Aurora broke the law by not paying salaries. If a mine is not operational for almost a year, shouldn't the licence be withdrawn?" asked Baleni.
Thulani Ngubani, commercial director at Aurora, referred questions to Michael Hulley, a director at Aurora and president Zuma's lawyer. Hulley's phone was switched off on Friday. He did not respond to voice and text messages.
Aurora took over the mines of Pamodzi Gold, which was placed in liquidation, a year ago. It has since struggled to secure a funder to restart operations or meet day-to-day obligations.
Aurora has failed to meet environmental commitments, with AngloGold Ashanti complaining it had to pump water from Aurora's Orkney mine.
Liquidator Enver Motala said on Friday 12 November that Aurora had until December 15 to find cash to get the mines operational, or main creditor Unibank would liquidate the assets, or find another buyer.
"We've come to the end of the road with Aurora as well," said Motala. It was "unlikely in the current environment" a new buyer would be found.
NUM and Solidarity is to hold a press conference today, 15 November, to try to put pressure on government, the liquidators and secured creditors Unicredit and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), said Du Plessis.
Source: Business Times
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