More than 2 000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at the Modikwa Platinum mine in Limpopo started striking at 6am on Friday to demand an end to racism at the mine, the union said.
”We’re outside the mine… there are more than 2 000 miners [striking],” said union spokesperson Onis Serothwane on Friday.
There were many discrepancies caused by racism in the company.
”Working conditions for whites here are made to be much better than their black counterparts,” he said.
”The wage gap tells it all. A white worker is paid thousands more than blacks in the same position,” he said, adding that recruitment and selection policies of the company were never applied equally.
Serothwane said the union had pressed for equality since November last year. NUM was expected to be meeting with the mine’s management at noon on Friday.
The protest follows a meeting last Thursday between the two parties, in which the union declared a dispute.
The mine was not immediately available for comment. – Sapa