THE South African miners’ trade union Amcu has said it will march to the British embassy this week to hand over a memorandum of demands regarding its protracted strike in the platinum sector.
Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin, where Amcu has been on a wage strike since January 23, are all listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa said they would also march to Parliament in Cape Town before the general elections on May 7.
In an effort to force the arm of the employers into acceding to their demand for entry-level wages of R12,500, Mathunjwa said they would ‘shift into higher gear’ by asking their children to leave school and join them in the industrial action.
He was addressing hundreds of Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union members who had marched to Lonmin headquarters at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg last Thursday. The mining companies are now seeking to starve the miners back to work.
Mathunjwa said this week would see them opening a ‘strike fund’ bank account to accommodate donations from their comrades in Europe who wanted to ‘throw in thousands of dollars to pursue the strike’.
Gold sector workers also wanted to contribute to the strike so that workers struggling to make ends meet could afford basic necessities while on strike.
Mathunjwa continued: ‘Lonmin, I warn you, should you close one shaft there will be no shaft that will operate. I give the same warning to Amplats and Implats as well. We need not be threatened. Africa is for Africans.’
Amcu called on religious leaders Desmond Tutu, Njongonkulu Ndungane and Thabo Makgoba to intervene and support the strike.
‘We ask them to intervene. They must stand with us. They must blow the trumpet of conscience to these mine bosses. How long should workers starve?’ Mathunjwa asked.
He said of the mine bosses: ‘If they say they are not feeling the pinch they are lying.’ The strike has cost the companies about R10bn in lost revenue and workers about R4.4bn in lost wages.
‘Our agenda will be decided by our members. Even the government cannot decide our agenda. The decision to go back to work must include compensation for the 10 weeks we have been on strike.
‘We are not apologetic. These are our minerals. They killed us in Marikana for R12,500.’
