South Africa Gold Mine Strike Ends, Minister Says Companies Must Improve
By Alexis Flynn LONDON--South African mining company Gold Fields Limited (GFI.JO) said Wednesday that the unlawful strike by 12,000 employees at the KDC East mine has been resolved and workers will return to their shifts before the day is out. The resolution brings an end to a significant escalation to violent strikes that have mainly affected South Africa's platinum mining industry. Violent labor disputes gripped platinum mining in the country for much of August, but Gold Fields miners went out on strike for the first time last week. The Gold Fields announcement came shortly after South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies, said at an investor briefing in London that his government's "focus of attention" will be on how mining companies treat their workers. Visits to Marikana, the Lonmin PLC (LMI.LN) platinum mine which has seen the worst strikes, had shown the, "appalling," conditions that platinum workers had to endure and said that the mining companies, "who make millions," had questions to answer, Mr. Davies said. Marikana has been shut since Aug. 10 as a result of a strike by 3,000 rock drillers which turned violent and has left a total of 44 dead, including 34 people killed when police fired live ammunition into a crowd of strikers. Any questions around what happened at Marikana must also address mining companies' practices, said Mr. Davies, adding that this would form part of the remit of the four-month commission of inquiry appointed to investigate the tragedy. While some mining companies have implemented social programs to improve worker conditions and created share-ownership schemes for lower-ranking employees, "some have not, and these will be a focus of attention," Mr. Davies said. At the heart of many of the strikes is frustration over living conditions and wages, but another factor is the battle for membership between the well-established National Union of Miners, or NUM, and its emerging rival, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. Gold Fields said its strike was resolved after the national leadership of the NUM met with its members at the KDC mine to resolve differences between them.
