Contradictions between labour and capital could be managed and minimised in a way beneficial to all stakeholders, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said yesterday.
He said in this regard, labour and business sought to enter into mutually beneficial relations, not because they had forsaken their partisan interests but because they needed each other.
Motlanthe was speaking at the annual Nedlac labour conference and on the eve of a wage strike in the platinum sector by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).
He said all stakeholders should continue to engage actively with local and foreign investors in a structured and co-ordinated manner to ensure that South Africa remained an attractive investment destination.
Motlanthe said government efforts to engage with all stakeholders to heighten awareness about the volatile state of the economy in the light of the urgency of the issues emanating from the mining sector should be understood in this context.
He was instrumental in the drawing up and signing of the framework agreement for a sustainable mining industry for the future benefit of South Africa’s economy.
Motlanthe said in terms of the agreement, organised labour and business made a firm commitment to work together to restore peace and stability in the mines.
But hardly had the ink dried than the National Union of Mineworkers had embarked on a wage strike at Northam Platinum in November. Amcu begged off signing the peace pact. – Wiseman Khuzwayo