Johannesburg - Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) chief executive Chris Griffith has apologised to his employees, many of whom are on strike, for the remarks he made about his R17.6 million pay being fair.
Griffith’s apology comes amid high tensions on the platinum belt in the North West, as striking miners continue to press hard for a R12 500-a-month minimum salary.
About 70 000 Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) members have been on strike since January 23. Last week’s media reports said that Griffith was paid a total of R17.6m, of which R6.7m was a basic salary.
He was quoted as saying: “Am I getting paid on a fair basis for what I’m having to deal with in this company? Must I run this company and deal with all this nonsense for nothing? I’m at work. I’m not on strike. I’m not demanding to be paid what I’m not worth.”
His comments drew criticism, with some people calling his remarks “insensitive”. In an apology, he said his choice of words was inappropriate and a poor way to describe the extremely challenging situation the company found itself in.
“Further, the seemingly insensitive timing of bonus scheme announcement has been determined by JSE reporting regulations coinciding with the prolonged strike.”
However, he stressed that Amcu’s demand for a minimum basic wage of R12 500 remained unaffordable as it would increase the company’s costs by approximately R4.5 billion a year.
“After a year of negotiations, we have been unable to reach a settlement and we remain far apart in our positions. We know that the majority of our employees want to come back to work and they face intimidation that is preventing a large number of them from coming back,” Griffith said.
Talks with the platinum companies targeted by the strike – Amplats, Impala Platinum (Implats) and Lonmin – have collapsed, with the three companies saying that they cannot afford Amcu’s demand for a R12 500 minimum wage.
It is unclear what Amcu will read from Griffith’s apology but executive compensation has become a hot button issue in a country with one of the highest unemployment rates and starkest inequality.
Implats said on Friday its chief executive, Terence Goodlace, who earns about R7.5m, would not be taking a pay hike in light of the strike, which could cripple the company’s production for the rest of its financial year.
The strike has cost the companies more than R18.4 billion in revenue and workers have lost more than R8bn in earnings, according to figures posted onn www.platinumwagenegotiations.co.za as of yesterday. – With additional reporting by Reuters