Covid-19 report at Sibanye Stillwater a hoax

Marikana mine. Source: Sibanye-Stillwater

The mining house said in a statement that it had received a screenshot of a breaking news story from a prominent South African news agency regarding a purported confirmed case of Covid-19 at its Marikana operation, which is circulating on social media platforms. It said there are no confirmed cases of Covid-19 at any of its operations and has confirmed with news agency that the story is fake.

"The safety and wellbeing of our employees and our communities is our primary concern and we have prepared and implemented detailed measures to prevent infection among employees and restrict the spread of the Covid-19 virus, in alignment with measures adopted by the South African president, to manage the threat of the virus," the statement said.

"This a malicious and disingenuous hoax and could potentially have far reaching and damaging consequences for the company, the mining industry and the country. Sibanye-Stillwater views this in an extremely serious light and will pursue legal action when the source of the hoax is traced. The relevant regulatory authorities have also been informed and will no doubt pursue their own course of action."

Sibanye-Stillwater urged stakeholders to question any information from sources other than official releases from the company, the Minerals Council or the South African regulatory authorities.