JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s gold mines agreed a wage deal with unions yesterday as the bulk of the gold sector’s striking miners returned to work under threat of dismissal.
The returns marked success of a sort for a new tough approach by mining firms, but at least 12,000 gold and 20,000 platinum miners were still pursuing a wave of illegal strikes that have cost Africa’s largest economy over 10bn rand ($1.14bn) this year, according to the National Treasury.
About 100,000 workers in all have downed tools across South Africa since August in the often violent strikes that have triggered downgrades of South Africa’s credit ratings, and awkward questions about government performance for President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
After three weeks of negotiations, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the gold industry, which employs around 157,000, announced agreement on wage increases of between 1.5 and 10.8 percent for different categories of mine workers. The deal is seen as a wage sweetener and comes as several mining firms have played hard-ball by sacking workers for illegal strikes.
Harmony Gold, South Africa’s third-largest producer, said most of its 5,400 employees who were threatened with dismissal at its Kusasalethu mine were now back at work. Strikes were also now over at two of Gold Fields’ three mines, where workers faced threats of being sacked.
“Stability in the gold mining industry has been achieved at many of the operations and there are hopes that this trend will continue,” said Chamber of Mines executive Elize Strydom.
But AngloGold Ashanti, South Africa’s biggest producer, said on Wednesday it had sacked around half of its 24,000-strong local workforce who had ignored an ultimatum to return to work or be fired.
AngloGold spokesman Alan Fine said the company was optimistic the dismissed workers would return to work after they appealed their dismissals.
Mining firms have usually taken back most fired workers because it is more costly to train a new workforce. Analysts say this round of strikes will lead to some permanent job losses with firms shutting down marginal shafts.
The strikes have highlighted persisting glaring income inequality in South Africa, which has increased since Nelson Mandela’s ANC took over following the end of white-minority rule in 1994, promising “a better life for all”.
Some in the business community worry that Zuma, who faces ANC leadership elections at the end of the year, might try to buy social stability with increased welfare spending.
But Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, presenting an interim budget on Wednesday, said there was no more money to dish out, bringing relief to investors worried about spiralling debt.
Gordhan cut South Africa’s GDP forecast for the year to 2.5 percent from 2.7 percent and said the government needed some time to determine the full impact of the mine strikes on growth.
Reuters
