Johannesburg - Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane received a hostile reception at the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) central committee meeting on Friday.
Delegates chanted and clapped to disapproving songs such as “what you are doing to us in not right” and “we don’t want a capital agenda”.
The mood was hardly surprising considering that since his appointment last year, the minister has failed to meet the union despite numerous requests and it being a major stakeholder in the industry. The NUM became so irate, that eventually its federation, Cosatu, started making public statements on the minister being only keen to meet business.
Zwane used his speech to try and foil tensions by assuring delegates that he was doing all he could to save jobs in the current economic climate.
“Mining remains central to the South African economy and is important for development. It is for this reason that we signed declaration to save jobs and minimise the impact of job losses. We have been greatly concerned that some employers were not adhering the declaration. We have encouraged employers not to retrench as the first option,” he said.
However, Zwane did concede that the economic climate remained dire for the sector.
“The challenges in the economy are not just theoretical, they are being felt mostly by workers in many sectors of the economy, including mining and manufacturing. As companies nationalise in the face of slowing global demand there is an indication to retrench workers,” said Zwane.
He said his department was doing all it could to try and create jobs by granting mining rights to BEE companies.
“In the last three years we have granted over 80 mining rights with the intention to create 22 000 much needed jobs,” he explained.
Even though he received a hostile reception, NUM general secretary David Sipunzi said that he was pleased that minister kept his promise to address workers.
“We appreciate that at long last the minister has been able to come and address us,” said Sipunzi.
“We don’t expect the minister to be a mouthpiece for the NUM, we remain a trade union. But on issues such as the mining charter we expected the minister to call all stakeholders including ourselves as the NUM but that is not what happed. However, we believe there are good things to come between the minister and the union,” he explained.
The union believed that the minister’s attendance was a sign of better things to come between labour and government.
Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in mining in recent years. The picture looks bleak for this year as well.
Labour Bureau