Platinum mines in South Africa is the world’s biggest mine which produce the metal on the world market. The strike will therefore disrupt operations for about 70 percent of global output of the precious metal.
Members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union at Anglo American Platinum Ltd, Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd and Lonmin Plc are the three largest producers which is demanding for up to 12,500 rand ($1,150) a month.
Secretary General for the mine workers, Jeff Mpahlele said the strike is aimed at forcing the employers to the negotiating table and to prevent what happened at the Marikana mine in 2012 where police shot dead 34 mine workers for protesting.
“The mining sector in our country has been in turmoil and in some instances there has been lots of loss of life, many people were of the view that mining industry is on a decline. I was then asked by the president to try and bring all relevant stakeholders in the mining sector to try and bring some stability’’.
“In the main, my task was to try and ensure that mine workers exercise their bargaining rights without fear of victimization and that organized labour movements are able to embark on their activities free from violence. In this regard, we had to bring everybody together around the table to agree on path to restore stability in the mining sector’’, he said.
But spokesman for the South African Police Service in the North West province told the Bloomberg News Agency that police is providing the necessary security in order to make the strike peaceful.
“We’ve increased our visibility across the area, everything is in place to make sure the strike is peaceful to prevent what happened 2 years ago’’, he said.
34 miners were shot dead by police at the Marikana mine for embarking on protest which police described as self defence. The country’s deputy president Kgalema Motlanthesaid thereof that the government will act decisively to enforce law and order to avert such calamities in the future.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
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