Employers delay resumption of strike talks

Union leader Joseph Mathunjwa, centre, sings and dances with mineworkers outside Lonmin's platinum mine at Marikana near Rustenburg on January 23, the first day of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union strike. Photo: Themba Hadebe, AP

Union leader Joseph Mathunjwa, centre, sings and dances with mineworkers outside Lonmin's platinum mine at Marikana near Rustenburg on January 23, the first day of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union strike. Photo: Themba Hadebe, AP

Published Feb 11, 2014

Share

Johannesburg - The polarisation between platinum employers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) showed yesterday, with employers asking for more time to consult their constituency.

This meant the resumption of government-led mediation talks was postponed.

The talks, which were due to resume today, were postponed until Thursday and the two parties will engage separately with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Talks broke down last Wednesday because of a stalemate over the union’s R12 500 a month wage demand and the employers’ 9.5 percent top offer.

The CCMA would meet employers on Thursday and the leadership of Amcu on Friday, it said yesterday.

“The mediation process is ongoing and we remain confident that a mediated solution will be found to resolve the strike in the platinum sector, with parties remaining willing to engage with the process,” Nerine Kahn, the director of the CCMA, said yesterday.

Despite the optimism about a resolution expressed by the CCMA yesterday, analysts said they had reservations.

The “talks are unlikely to be a game changer for the industry”, Michael Kavanagh, an analyst at Noah Capital Markets, said yesterday.

“The general expectation is that the final wage settlement will be in the order of between 8 percent and 10 percent and is already factored into the cost modelling of the market,” Kavanagh predicted.

“What would be a surprise is if the final settlement was more than that.”

Platinum stocks performed well on the JSE yesterday. Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) jumped 4.3 percent to close at R439.53, while Lonmin advanced 3.33 percent to close at R58.06. Impala Platinum rallied 3.56 percent to R118.67.

The strengthening in the price of the shares was attributed to investors playing on the weaker rand and the likelihood that the strikes in the sector would intensify an expected platinum deficit, thereby increasing the platinum price, analysts said.

Experts predicted that the deficit in the platinum market would continue this year.

Meanwhile, the police officer accused of shooting Amplats worker Shadow Ncedani on Friday was due to appear in court yesterday.

The 47-year-old man was arrested on Sunday, Moses Dlamini, a spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, said.

Ncedani was killed on Friday when protesters threw stones at police at the Amplats mine near Northam.

“Police then used shotguns with rubber bullets in trying to disperse the protesters.”

Dlamini said the officer allegedly fired a shot with an R5 rifle, killing the 32-year-old miner at the scene.

Meanwhile, Harmony Gold recovered the body of an employee from its Doornkop mine on Friday.

This meant the nine miners who died in Tuesday’s accident were now all accounted for, the company said.

A seismic event is believed to have set off a rockfall, which in turn caused a fire. Eight mineworkers returned to the surface unharmed on Wednesday. – With additional reporting by Sapa

Related Topics: