November 18, 2012

Post Massacre: South African Miners Reject Low-Ball Return-to-Work Offer

Amplats strike

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – At a weekend rally, thousands of miners formerly employed by the metals giant Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) turned down a one-time return-to-work payment of $500 offered by the company and vowed to keep the strike alive.

"Nobody is going back to work, the strike is still carrying on," said Amplats Workers' Committee representative Evans Ramokga.

The world's biggest platinum mining company fired 12,000 workers in October after failing to reach a settlement for wage increases.

Amplats is one of a handful of mining companies still hobbled by a massive walkout. Some 50 people have died in the unrest, including 34 people shot point-blank by police in the so-called Marikana massacre, named for the mine.

A new outbreak of labor unrest was reported at the Kroondal chrome mine where South African police arrested 37 workers for public violence on Tuesday after firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters who barricaded a road leading to the mine.

South Africa produces 75 percent of the world’s platinum used in jewelry and automobiles.

Elsewhere in the country, some 51 houses in Lenasia, south of Jo’burg, were demolished by government agents who claimed the land, owned by the municipality, was sold fraudulently to low-income people. The buyers were given forged deeds of sale with the department's logo. Another 115 are slated for demolition later this week.

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said the removals were in the best interests of the poor and sent a strong message to fraudsters who continued to sell land illegally in Gauteng.