Moises Sandoane Uamusse
President of AMIMO
Email address: uamussemoz@gmail.com
Telephone: +258 828 728 370

Moises Sandoane Uamusse, born in 3 October, 1960, is a former mine worker from the South African Gold Mines and the 12th and youngest son of the late Estevão Manguaiane Uamusse, also a migrant mine worker from 1927 to 1958. Moises was a miner in South Africa from January 1990 to December 1997. Moises is the 6th man of the family to work in the mines after the national compulsory military duties.

Living in the “Hostel” together with miners from Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique, including South Africa, he started exchanging information regarding migration. Comparing the life of former and active miners, lack of pension funds and social benefits to the mine workers after work (retirement), Moises started mobilizing friends to form the Association of Mozambican Mineworkers – AMIMO, in 1996.

The Association was officially registered in Mozambique in 1998, establishing its Headquarters in Maputo with Branches in Gaza and Inhambane Provinces. The same registration was also done in South Africa, with a branch opening and creating representations in each mine. The association is a membership based organization and the members are both active and former miners.

The mission of the association is to restore hope to migrant mineworkers that leave home and family for extended periods of time. Some of the services include supporting the re-integration of mineworkers into their communities, assisting mineworker families to access compensation, lobbying and advocacy work.

At the national level, AMIMO has lobbied to influence police changes regarding the improvement of miners´ and families´ health and access to social assistance (there is a need to introducea pension fund for the mine workers, as these are not entitled due to an old agreement which regulates migrant miners to SA, as well as medical assistance after retirement).

Due to the challenges faced during the implementation of the association´s objectives in Mozambique and South Africa, AMIMO was forced to identify similar organizations in Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland in 2006. It then formed a regional body which might act and strengthen the national associations. After two Regional Seminars of National Mineworkers Associations in 2008 (in Maputo – Mozambique) and 2010 (in Pretoria – South Africa), the Southern Africa Mineworkers Association – SAMA was registered in Lesotho. To this end, the establishment of the Head offices and the governing bodies is in process.

Acting as a team (after we have known as Associations of migrant miners with similar problems), we advocated for the signing of SADC Declaration on TB in the Mining Sector, at the 32nd   SADC Summit in Maputo-Mozambique, in 2012.