Gold Fields’ miners yet to resume work

JOHANNESBURG – Striking workers at Gold Fields’ KDC East mine in South Africa are yet to return to work, flouting an ultimatum to end a wildcat strike or face dismissal.

South Africa is struggling to resolve violent unrest that has poisoned industrial relations, marred its image overseas and is spreading beyond the mining industry. Gold Fields is one of several companies to throw down an ultimatum to striking miners, a tactic which appears to have worked in some cases, though not as yet at KDC East. ‘So far we have no turnout at KDC East but the final deadline is this afternoon,’ company spokesman Sven Lunsche said.About 8 500 workers at KDC East were issued an ultimatum to start returning to work with the night shift on Monday and the morning and afternoon shifts yesterday.AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, the world’s No 3 gold producer, told striking South African miners on Monday to return to work by tomorrow or face dismissal.About 100 000 workers have downed tools for better pay since August. The strikes have sparked credit downgrades of Africa’s top economy and raised questions about the relatively slow response of President Jacob Zuma’s government.A government-appointed commission is hearing testimonies as part of an investigation of the ‘Marikana massacre’, where police near Lonmin Plc’s mine shot dead 34 workers on August 16, the most violent police action in South Africa’s post-apartheid history.Several relatives of the slain miners broke down in tears at a commission hearing yesterday when a Reuters video of the shooting was played.Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world’s largest platinum producer, was the first to take a tough stand against wildcat strikes, sacking 12 000 workers at its Rustenburg operations earlier this month.Amplats’ Rustenburg mines have been shut since September 12. Last week it said it would delay the dismissal process at its Union and Amandelbult operations, where it employs 20 500 people. It also said it was open to discussing the reinstatement of the sacked workers with unions.The strikes spread into other mining industries after starting in the platinum mines. – Nampa-Reuters

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